Shadows into Nights
by CerberAsta
Summary: The end is near, one cannot defy. Tis the Darkness that must die. [Legendverse]
1. Enter the Black: Memory Lane

_**Memory Lane**_

**__**

_**Hello, all. This is my first fic set in the Legendverse. However, it's not my first fic, or even my first Titan fic. So, any mistakes, anything I should fix, please tell me.**_

_**The Legendverse is different from the show itself in the fact that it has three original characters (Noel "Savior" Collins; Robert "Gauntlet" Candide; Nigel "Scalpel" Hasting), Terra never teamed up with Slade (thus never becoming a statue), Robin is Tim Drake but still has a relationship with Starfire, and... well, that's about it, right? Oh, and Jump City is located in Florida instead of California.**_

**_Thank LegendMaker for improving this chapter significantly and possibly the rest of the story. Not to mention having created the Legendverse in the first place. Moving on..._**

_**Finally, when something's typed like **this_**_, that indicates thought. Something like_ this_ is the author being stupid, and _this_ represents Manik speaking/thinking, because of his Draconic nature, and Manik resides in Nik. _**

**__**

_**Davopolis, Eyarth, Castle Black...**_

_Most tales in this universe begin in Jump City. Instead, this story shall start off in a different dimension, on Eyarth, in the city Davopolis, and in the recently created Castle Black. Where two paragons of darkness are fighting._

"MOTHER FUCKER!" a shout rang out.

Two forces were clashing. The battlefield was rubble but the two competitors ignored everything but the other. As any good fight goes.

The two forces locked together and exploded with black energy. They pushed against each other with all their might. They both looked human, but they were exerting tremendous force. The black energy roared around them, creating a mini-tornado.

"I was spawned from darkness, like yourself," one spat back.

The two began transforming in the black energy. The energy then slowly died down.

They stood there, waiting.

"Now that our human counterparts finally relinquished their pathetic control, we can truly fight. Eh, Taokii?" one asked.

He was a dragon in appearance, but he stood on two legs on and used his arms like a human's. His wings were folded in.

"Hopefully like we had the first time. It was only a few years after time began, as you should recall, Manik," Taokii replied.

He looked semi-draconic, he had a crown of horns on his head and his right arm sported a sword. His wings were folded in as well.

Manik formed a sword from black energy while Taokii simply raised up his left arm and extended the sword to four feet. They circled each other a few feet then Taokii rushed in and slashed at Manik. Manik narrowly dodged it by scooting back, then he slammed the side of Taokii's head with his claw, knocking him down.

"You always were impatient, Imperknight," Manik said.

Taokii merely grunted in reply and lanced his foot out. It crunched Manik's right leg, bending the knee backwards. Manik raised an eyebrow, then his shadow leaped up around the knee and fixed it. He raised his claw that held the sword up. The sword reformed into a spear of energy which then threw itself and pierced Taokii's side.

Taokii hacked up some blood, but merely got back up.

"Nik!" a voice from behind a pillar shouted out.

Manik turned around and was slammed in the back by Taokii.

"_You_ always were easily distracted, Draak Rei," Taokii replied.

"DISGRACEFUL!" a voice roared.

Then out from behind a pillar, a lion covered in armor that allowed complete freedom of movement came barreling down on Taokii. It leapt through the air and blasted him with intense fire. It was at that point a kid in light armor leapt off the lion and came down, thwacking Taokii with a bo-staff. He then kneeled down, swung the staff low, tripped Taokii and then stabbed him with the bayonet on the end of the staff all in a manner of five seconds.

"Bayonette! Leo Knight! This is MY FIGHT!" Manik shouted.

"I'm going to help you, dad! PERIOD!" Bayonette shot back.

Manik roared and picked both of them up with his tail. He then threw them lightly (as a restriction by Nik) into the wall, knocking them unconscious.

_If you do that to allies, I'd hate to see what you do to enemies._

**Shut up, Nik.**

_As you wish, asshole._

Manik turned back to Taokii and ripped him off the ground. He then shoved his claw through Taokii's chest and pulled out a black orb. His darkness. His heart. Taokii coughed up more blood.

"Damn it, I lost again," he spat.

Manik threw him aside and blasted him through the head again. Taokii fell to the darkness of reincarnation in another world. A world to which Manik would follow. The Darkness was all absorbed by Manik as he turned back into Nik. He wore a tattered white shirt with a hood and grey jeans (which happened to be made of incredibly tougher material than denim).

He looked around at his adopted son, Logan Vinyette. His helmet had been shattered, leaving the face of the young black boy revealed. He then looked over to the man he considered a brother. Leon Pridion. It was for them that he was about to do what he was about to do.

Unfortunately for Nik, he couldn't remember what that was.

_**Gargarin Cathedral, Jump City, Florida...**_

The same man we saw earlier in Davopolis was standing on a ledge of a building, musing on his life.

_I do not know where I am. I just remember tossing Taokii aside and then... I was here. Something happened inbetween that time. I just know it. _

He sat there, wondering what it was.

_Manik! What happened?_

**Hell if I know. I never remember what happens after I beat Taokii. I just remember waking up in a new realm, and that darkness has considerably less sway overall. And I'm occasionally in a new person. Damn that's annoying.**

_Yeah, you had to scare the hell out of me with nightmares for most of my life until I realised your presence, dirt bag._

**Shadow Walker Humans are such-**

_You're going to end that statement right there._

**Cats.**

Nik waited there a while until something creeped up the building, completely flat. It was wolf-like in appearance, but it was entirely black and had white eyes. It touched his shadow and Nik nodded, having understood a silent communication. He leapt up into the air. For a split-second, you could see him in front of the moon, before he was swirled in black and disappeared.

_**Titans Tower, Jump City, Florida...**_

It had been just last night that Nik had come into the world under unknown circumstances. It was a fairly decent morning. That was... until Robin came out of the shower.

"Tim?" Nigel asked.

Scalpel, to all new Legendverse readers, would quite easily scare small children. In short, he looked rather metallic, with ears longer than Beastboy's, metal claws fused onto his three digit hands (two fingers and a thumb), and blue pupils that had a... glow to them.

"Yes, Nigel?" Tim asked, seemingly irritated.

"Your hair... is pink," Nigel stated, still in semi-surprise.

"Why yes. Yes it is. Care to explain?" Tim asked.

"I honestly haven't a clue," Nigel answered.

"Well, I used the shampoo. That you bought. On your last grocery trip. Only you ever touched it, to my knowledge," Tim said.

"It sounds more like something Gauntlet would do," Noel said, from behind a newspaper.

Noel, to the casual observer, was just an ordinary teenager. With really red hair.

"Yes, I did hand it to him to put in the showers," Nigel said, offhandedly.

"And for that... you can go with him to the monthly lawsuit settling meeting," Tim said.

"But... what for?" Nigel asked.

"One: you handed something to Robert that he could and would tamper with, ie. My shampoo. Two: you know damn well Robert would fail miserably at the meetings, meaning he needs someone to level him out," Tim said.

"Don't worry much about it, Scalpel. It's definitely not fun. But it's not boring so long as you can simply imagine your own world in your head," Noel said, having put the newspaper down. Nigel still looked unhappy.

"I might have use for those assassination plans for Robert that you most likely came up with," Nigel said, picking up his plate and getting up.

"You? Actually threatening someone for agitating you?" Garfield Logan aka Beastboy asked.

"It'd be an empty threat, and you know it. Just the knowledge that I had said plans, even if I had no intention of even looking at them, might get him to at least act like he's paying attention," Nigel said, from the kitchen.

"And what makes you think I'd have plans to assassinate Gauntlet?" Noel asked, an eyebrow raised.

"You're Noel," Garfield said.

"...rigghht. Keep forgetting that." Noel rolled his eyes, but simply continued reading an article in the paper. Albeit briefly.

"Hey Tim? You might wanna' take a look at this," he said.

Tim quickly read the article.

Apparently, a string of killings had occured the previous night. But the odd thing about them was that nearly all the victims had a criminal record and had two holes, about an inch-wide, piercing through the general radius of their heart and brain.

"So now we have a psychotic meta on the loose," Tim said, shaking his head.

"_And he sounds a bit like Emmanuel_," Noel thought to himself.

To those of you who don't know, Emmanuel was an alternate universe's Savior. Instead of white paint, he had been splashed with yellow pain and the mutation that had granted his powers had altered. He apparently developed a second conscious which was righteous to the point of delusional, as it seized control and went out killing anyone who spited him or were sinful. By his definition. Which was zealously insane.

The Titan alarm blared. Robin's eye twitched behind the mask. Learn of new trouble in this city, and said trouble seemed to knock on their door a moment later. It was annoying, in more than a few ways, as Robin strode over and hit a few keys.

The screen pulled up to reveal Dr. Light. Ah, not trouble. Robin relaxed a bit.

"Titans, let's go! Arthur's trying to cause trouble again!" Robin said, as he and the Titans left the room to head into the city.

For once, Robin had forgotten to switch the viewscreen off. Not that there was much to see except Dr. Light trying to be competent again.

Another figure came out of seemingly nowhere on the viewscreen and engaged Arthur in combat. The figure was Nik. Robin had already taken off, along with most of the Titans.

Except one.

A few moments later, Robert Candide came downstairs, yawning.

He was a fairly average teen with blonde hair, normal pants, and a white shirt with a 'G' on it. The only odd thing was the ring on his finger: it had a rather large jewel on it.

He looked around to see no one around and the screen showing the current battle between (Pride) Nik and Dr. Light.

"Aw, spam it. Well, it's only Dr. Light... and that guy's probably on our side if he's fighting him," Robert shrugged.

Still, duty was duty. And he totally had to see Tim's current hairstyle, he thought with a snicker. So, he quickly activated his namesake, the Gauntlet. The metal of the ring quickly extended up to his elbow and the jewel enlargened and placed itself in the center, as Gauntlet took off for the location as well.

_**Somewhere, Jump City, Florida...**_

Dr. Light was still developing a machine (well technically his computers were developing it, while he occasionally looked at boring records that all said the same thing), but that kind of behavior can, and had lead, to stupidity-inducing boredom. Rather than just sit around, Light decided, in the meantime, to go out and fight a bit for practice. He expected the Titans to come and possibly get a new record for taking him down.

He _didn't_ expect some adult to emerge from his shadow and throw a blast of the same material at him.

"What the... HEY!" Light yelled, as he countered the blast with one of his own.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Pride asked.

"You insipid being! I am Dr. Light, ruler of light itself," Dr. Light answered, thrashing a light tendril at him.

Pride produced a large black shield from his shadow that cancelled out the tendril.

"Well, I'm Pride. King of darkness," Pride replied.

Dr. Light snickered.

"Well I guess this is regicide, then." Dr. Light said, and then shot a large blast of light energy at his opponent.

Pride raised up another shield of shadow which took the damage. Growling, Light focused his blast, as Pride walked forward, still blocking the attack. Pride began focusing harder in return, and Dr. Light's shadow rose up, forming an exact copy of the not-so-good-doctor, except, well, shadowy. He was like a 3-D silhouette.

Dr. Light was faintly aware of a presence behind him before Dark Dr. Light (It's Oooooooxymoron!) cuffed him in the back of the head. Hard.

Yelling, Dr. Light turned one hand behind him and blasted the shadow back to its place, attached to his feet. Now he was really mad.

"You should've stayed in whatever you crawled out of. As cliched as it is, light triumphs over darkness!" Dr. Light roared, as he began sucking in light from the nearby area, ...causing darkness to fall.

Pride looked around, amused.

"You take away light, and darkness remains," Pride said, as he absorbed all the nearby darkness, leaving more in its wake, "You take away darkness and more remains."

"...Oh poopy." Dr. Light said.

He then blasted Dr. Light into a building and threw another assault of dark blasts as a followup.

"Light is temporary. Darkness. IS ETERNAL!" Pride roared, as he pulled up the darkness like it was a tangible thing and hurled it towards Dr. Light.

A giant form wrapped around the photokinetic, and the light returned, as Dr. Light was actually struck with an idea. He had shot out all the light he had absorbed back into its proper place. When the light returned to its normal position, Pride suddenly was expelled of a good portion of the darkness he absorbed, due to the explosion of light.

"It seems you can't handle a sudden flash of light too well, hmmmm...?" Dr. Light asked. He then proceeded to throw several blasts at Pride

Nothing the king of darkness couldn't handle though, and he quickly grew bored... until a fairly large group of teens showed up. The Titans had arrived.

And their first action was to stand and look at the odd sight. Dr. Light was throwing light blasts, while Pride was simply having his shadow leap up and take the damage.

"...the Lord?" Savior asked, briefly thinking that an old, deadly enemy had escaped death's grasp once more. He had transformed in the meantime, and now wore white clothing and had hair equivalent to a Super Saya-jin from Dragon Ball Z. For those of you unfamiliar with Savior.

"...No." Raven said. It wasn't their old enemy... but that didn't make him any less dangerous.

Pride finally turned to the group and raised an eyebrow.

"What is this, Halloween? Shouldn't you kids be in school?" he asked.

"Kids? We're over nineteen each, at least," Cyborg replied.

"Excuse me for my grevious error. How shall I atone?" Pride asked, sarcastically.

"Apparently not from around here, and a smart ass," Savior said.

"Hey! Didn't your parents ever teach you to respect your elders?" Pride semi-snapped. He had a reason to ask the question. He was 30, nearing 31.

"We taught ourselves respect is something to earn, not expect." Savior retorted.

"Touche' if I ever heard one," Pride muttered.

"Who are you, anyways?" Tim asked.

He suddenly regretted having drawn attention to himself.

"Woah! Since when was pink such a hot color on guys! You're primarily masculine in an alternate universe, aren't you?" Pride asked, noticing the pink hair. (This statement is a direct reference to Bob & George.)

Why he hadn't reacted to Starfire's orange skin, Beastboy's green hair and skin, Cyborg's half-metal body, Savior's hair (SSJ!), Raven's gray skin, or Terra being the human equivalent of a stick is unknown.

"Most likely because Asta thinks it'd only be funny to pick on me," Robin muttered.

_**RESPECT THE FOURTH WALL AND KEEP IT UNKNOWN!**_

"Who are you?" Robin demanded again.

"Wait just a second," Pride said.

He turned around back to Dr. Light, focused on his shadow, and a large pillar shot up from it, square into his back. A loud _CRACK _was heard as he fell to his knees and onto his stomach. The Titans all visibly winced.

"Call me Pride," the semi-hero said.

Before anyone could do anything else, he had disappeared.

"...Great." Savior said, and went to check to make sure Pride hadn't killed Light by snapping his spine. Light was mostly intact as it turned out, as Robin handcuffed him and disabled his suit as the police arrived to cart him back to jail for the 17,000th time.

"I can assume we will have to be aware to his presence, am I correct?" Starfire asked.

"Exactly. Be on alert for him, too!" Beastboy said, turning into a cheetah and bounding off for the car, "SHOTGUN!"

"You better turn back human before you get yo' furry butt in my car!" Cyborg ordered.

"That was exceptional shadow manipulation, especially against Light." Raven commented to Savior as she walked up to him.

"Perhaps. But if he wants to cause trouble, well, Pride goeth before a fall." Savior replied, as he stepped close to Raven. Raven swiftly teleported herself and Savior back to the Tower while everyone else drove or flew.

_**Gargarin Cathedral...**_

Nik sat on the topmost platform of the Cathedral, trying to remember something. He then made a motion and slight sound that indicated he remembered. He pulled his shadow up and formed a circle with an inscription inside of it.

"Klatu berata nikto... no more stupid sci-fi movie marathons with Leon. How'd it go? Oh yeah, it was: Melchizedek links to Merlin. Merlin links to Lin-Fo. Wiseman, I pray thee, please help me," he chanted.

The circle swirled a bit before showing the face of a sorceror, who had a Chinese look to him. His pointed hat was red and it too had various inscriptions on it.

"Nik Gatrite. State your business. I obviously gave you the instructions to contact me in the various dimensions and probably stated it only be for emergencies," Lin-Fo said, sternly.

Nik held his temper. Lin-Fo was an immortal who'd been around around since a few centuries after Earth came into existence, however it did. He apparently gained incredibly magic with the immortality and created a good percentage of known magic as well. In short: he's virtually omnipotent.

"I need to know where I am, who those kids I met up with were, and what I'm supposed to do here. I figured I was done already," Nik said.

"You are on Earth in Dimension DC-LM, as it's been dubbed. Here, events have swung differently than in its sibling universes. There have been different heroes in existence. The Teen Titans. Surely you recognised Robin," Lin-Fo began.

"Oh yeah. He was with Batman in that one movie I saw with Logan. Right, right, right... wait, he has his own TEAM?" Nik demanded.

"Yes. I'll mentally upload all their greatest exploits and their basic information that they would want you to know," Lin-Fo said.

Nik was suddenly hit with a mental brick. He closed his eyes and kneeled to the ground in pain, then got back up, holding a curse. That had been a LOT of information (In story terms, he'd been given information of the events from the story Black and White all the way to The Cutting Edge) that slammed into him. Well, all the information any of the Titans would ever willingly tell.

"...DAMN I WISH YOU HAD WARNED ME WHAT WAS GONNA' HAPPEN!" Nik exploded.

Lin-Fo chuckled, "I always get that reaction, or something close enough."

"They really did all that?" Nik questioned, wiping the blood from his nose and muttering curses.

"Yes. But if you don't believe me, here," Lin-Fo said.

A black orb appeared in Nik's hands.

"What's this thing, a paperweight?" Nik asked.

Here I'm tempted to do a rip-off from Dead Man's Chest, but I'll take the canonical and less non-sensical route...

"It's a Nightmare orb. When the user activates it, it causes all the people in the room to suddenly be enveloped in darkness, and mentally break them down to strike them with their greatest nightmares," Lin-Fo explained.

"You put a lotta thought into this one," Nik said.

"If you consider a decade a lot of time, then yes, I did put a lot of thought and magic into that," Lin-Fo replied.

"But, hey, what am I supposed to do here?" Nik asked.

"You discovered it once. I'll let you do so again," Lin-Fo answered, the window closing up.

"Bastard," Nik muttered, rubbing his head, "now I need a Tylenol."

_**Titans Tower...**_

Gauntlet finally ran back in, having chased the Titans all the way back to the fight scene, then discovered they weren't there, then ran all the way back. Of course, the Old Ones artifact he currently wore really helped too. But still, that had to have been annoying.

"Rob, pack some necessities for a week-long trip. We'll be going to the super heroes' lawsuit meeting," Nigel said.

"I thought that was yearly! And why me?" Rob demanded.

"It is yearly. However, there are lesser meetings that occur after major incidents or a series of bigger than minor events," Tim said.

"Why me, though?" Rob repeated.

Tim glared. Rob then looked up. He held back a laugh.

"How do you know that was me? It could have been Gar or Cy easily!" Rob exclaimed, clearly guilty.

"I can read it on your forehead 'I did it!', 'I did it!'. Plus, Gar informs Terra about all his pranks. She said he didn't do it. She's a poor liar. Cyborg doesn't touch my shampoo as he only requires a monthly cleaning and he has his own personal bathroom. The thought wouldn't have crossed his mind. Finally, Nigel handed the bottle to YOU. Not anyone else. _You._ Which is why he's going with you," Tim stated.

Things had clearly been too normal for too long now, for before Robert could go pack, Nik materialized through Tim's shadow.

"Hello, Titans," he said.

Everyone damn near jumped and then aimed their weapons/powers directly at him.

"No no no. I'm here in peace. I might be interested in teaming up," Nik said.

That did not lower the weapons/powers.

"You wanna give us..." Robin began.

"But first. I need to administer a little test," he said, dropping the ball he held, unnoticed.

Darkness exploded around them, swirling through their consciousness, and taking them to a whole different plane of existence.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	2. Enter the Black: Rundown

_**Rundown**_

_**(AKA Why not to piss off Pride.)**_

_**Originally I was going to put in each nightmare the Titans suffered, but I realized I couldn't do the incidents justice, plus it would take massive re-writing, and I wanted to actually advance the plot. So, here goes.**_

_**Oh, and this ends the Enter the Black Arc. Next is the Trigger Arc. If you were wondering.**_

__

_**Titans Tower...**_

Pride watched with amusement as the Titans reappeared in the Tower from the Nightmare Plane. Only two were still standing, and a few Titans had tears running down their face. Cyborg looked like he had been hit relatively hard, while Gauntlet almost looked unaffected. The Nightmare Plane was a horrid place that could mentally beat down any hero, so you can't blame them.

Gauntlet had been a fluke. Something about Noel being too much of a stu to have been caught...

Cyborg had been truly strong, having been through daily ordeals of being half-machine. The abyss could not stare back into his soul...

Pride snorted with disgust, "Unless you can do better than this, I'll be on my way."

He melted into his shadow, disappearing, yet never letting his look of disgust slip from his face. There was silence for a little while. Then...

"HA! I BEAT THE STU AT FACING DOWN A NIGHTMARE! HAAAAAAAAHAHAHA!"

"Oh shut the hell up, and get packing."

_**That Night, Uptown Jump City...**_

Downtown Jump City was typically an area filled with miscreants, but tonight someone decided to travel a few miles for a better target. It was called Star Jewelry. It had all kinds of jewelry, specializing in star-shaped, as the name suggested. Apparently, a mister Jack L. Noame, as he was registered, decided to get a crystal star for his tree this Christmas. He climbed in silently and avoided any lasers.

He reached one that had caught his eye. It was a brilliant emerald green. A Star Emerald, it was called. Jack snickered at the in-joke he had and then smashed the glass. An alarm blared and something melted out of a shadow. Jack noticed it but didn't react to the black wolf that disappeared. He smirked as he knew what was coming. Pride came out of the same shadow almost immediately.

"I don't believe it'd be in the best interest of your nether regions to try to steal that." Pride said, his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"It'll save my butt from poverty, so I really think it is." Jack lied.

"Ah-huh. Yeah, I'm gonna' give you all of three seconds to put it back. And it took me... about six seconds to say that." Pride replied, looking at his watch.

"This is going to hurt isn't it?" Jack asked.

"Oh yeah." Pride said.

Pride threw two single strands of black shadows towards Jack, who caught them both, his hands glowing. He smiled. He fought someone periodically who was much more proficient with shadow powers than this being. Jack fired off a white bolt of energy which caught Pride in the chest. And sent him flying. Pride shot up through Jack's shadow and delivered an uppercut straight into the back of his head. Jack whirled around a fired a black bolt that sent Pride for a loop.

"The first time that was simply energy. I put some darkness into my attack that time." Jack said.

"Funnily enough, I'm the King of Darkness. You can do me no harm." Pride said, now possessing a black sheen.

Jack threw a dark blast from his palms, which shattered against Pride and returned to his shadow. However, the second it hit his shadow, he received a jolt that brought him down to his knees, in pain.

"How? Unless... you are... a... Darkagon...?" Jack coughed and sputtered, looking up at Pride.

"Well of course." Pride said, his shadow lurching upwards and wrapping around his right hand, then transforming into a demonic claw.

"Taokii?" Jack asked.

"That wretch? You mistook me for TAOKII?!" Manik demanded. "TAOKII IS HERE?!"

Jack instantly knew he said the wrong thing.

Jack instantly knew he was about to die.

Jack was right on both counts.

Pride shot forward and crushed Jack's head in his shadow claw, then threw the body outside. In his seething anger, he whirled around and smashed the nearest glass, knocking the item to the floor.

_**The Next Morning, Fairly Close to Titans Tower...**_

An alarm blared really quite loudly, as some idiot tried to rob a Seven Eleven. Apparently, this was one slightly more advanced, as it had an alarm that blared way too loud. The idiot raced down the street and Nik emerged from the alley and hit him from the side. The would-be robber wobbled a bit and Nik grabbed his head. He peered into the shadows of his mind and was disgusted.

The mind possesses pre-cognitive powers, but we never realize it. However, we sometimes get feelings of deja vu due to it, because we forget whatever is seen. Or at least that's the theory. Nik had currently peered into the pre-cognition and seeing what the man would later do. He would get out of prison because of a poor justice system. He would later rob a random gas station and kill everyone in it. Seven police would die in the shoot-out. How could Nik see this? It was difficult, but he was able to peer into people's minds, but only their pre-cognition.

However, he was spotted. It was four o' clock, sure, which meant nobody was out. But a few Titans just couldn't sleep, especially Starfire, due to her incredible emotions. So, she went for a flight. She was too late to stop what happened, but she saw Nik put two small shadow strands into the robber. One through his head, and the other through his heart. She reacted immediately and fired off several Starbolts in Nik's direction.

Nik was faster than the bolts, plus Star didn't have direction in her favor. He lifted the body of the robber up and it was decimated. He tossed it aside and disappeared before Star could get a lock on him again. Now that she knew what Nik was doing, she had to immediately report it to the team. They could then classify Nik as a full-fledge threat, rather than an annoyance or a simple troublemaker.

But first, she had to deal with body. She picked it up and flew it to the morgue, and she told the people taking it in that the murderer was simply an ordinary human with a knife. No need to get the masses alarmed just yet.

_**Titans Tower...**_

Starfire came in with the blood of the dead robber on her and Robin was, naturally, alarmed.

"What happened?" he asked, getting up to see if it was a wound or merely spilled blood.

"Nik is a killer. While I was out flying, I heard an alarm. When I got to the vicinity where it was loudest, I saw Nik pierce the man's heart and brain. The man had apparently robbed the nearby convenience store, but I do not believe that merits death." Starfire explained.

"Pierce the man's heart and brain, you say?" Robin asked, looking thoughtful, trying to remember where he heard that.

"Yes. Two small shadow strands came up from his own shadow and killed the man. It was instant death. Unfortunately, I had arrived in time to see the strands piercing his back. I attacked Nik, but he used the man's body to block my Starbolts and he disappeared." Starfire continued.

"Ah. Right. So Nik's the new Punisher? Fun. I really don't want another Final Night..." Robin trailed off.

Starfire nodded in agreement.

"We should get some rest. I haven't gone to sleep yet." Robin yawned.

Starfire nodded in agreement, smiling this time as she floated off with him.

_**Gargarin Cathedral…**_

Nik waited on top of the cathedral, and felt darkness emanating from it. The smell of death was suffocating up here. All he knew about the place was that it had a good view of the city, and there was enough darkness to spare about it that he could concoct sentries to patrol the city with ease.

A priest walked up and clutched his heart in surprise when he spotted Nik.

"Please sir, civilians aren't allowed on this place except during church hours." the priest said, clearly scared.

Nik asked, "What is with this place? There's an evil aura to it."

The priest smiled weakly, "It's the Gargarin Cathedral. Supposedly named for Niko Gargarin, the man who built it. But it's actually meant to honor his son, Mino Gargarin. Niko was satanic in nature, similar to Vladimir the Impaler, now called Dracula. You notice the Gargouille and Gargoyles? They were fountains of blood at one time. Niko would kill his enemies, and every year, a blood rain would come from this building. The heads of his enemies were stuck on poles out here on the roof."

"That would explain the smell of death." Nik muttered.

**And the Darkness.**

_Shut up right now, the priest is talking._

"His son inherited the building the day his father died, however he did. Mino was called Seraphim at times, considering his dedication to God, especially in comparison to his demonic father. He cleaned of this roof, washed away the blood, and turned the building into a church. This roof, however, is the subject of many ghost tales and myths, considering its eerie nature in how it seems to have… well, ghosts about it." the Priest continued.

"Wow. He was one apple who fell far from the tree. The tree seemed to 've thrown that apple." Nik muttered.

**Shut up! The priest is talking!**

_Asshole._

**I try.**

"Well sir, I guess I could allow you to stay up here. You seem a nice-enough fellow." the Priest said.

"What would be your name?" Nik asked.

"I'm Dave Soach. What would your name be, son?" Mr. Soach said.

"Mr. Soach…? Did you ever happen to own an orphanage?" Nik asked.

"Why… yes. Soach's Orphanage for Little Angels, it was called. I let one of the orphans take over when she was old enough. Why?" Mr. Soach asked.

Nik was stunned. So even this dimension held the orphanage he grew up in, where his "family" was? How?

"I-I had heard about it a while back. My name's… Nik." Nik said.

"Hmmm… Nik? Heh. I once had a boy at my orphanage who named himself that. Poor kid." Soach said, shaking his head.

"What happened to him?" Nik asked, curious.

"At about age 17, he and his best friend were walking back to the orphanage, when they were both mugged and shot." Mr. Soach said. "But enough depressing stories for today. I just had to check on the latest "ghost story". They claimed they see a wolf meet with a demon, who flew into the air and disappeared a few nights back. I can safely guess I'll be seeing you again up here, Nik?"

"Yes sir." Nik said, nodding his head.

Mr. Soach smiled as he closed the door behind him, walking down the steps. The man was so much like the orphan he had adopted all those years ago. Maybe he... naw.

Nik disappeared, alerted to a disturbance.

_**Uptown, City of Jump...**_

The Titans had set up a trap. A false alarm would occur. Pride would appear. They would capture him and beat him into submission so he couldn't disperse. Then, they'd drag him into a power-restricting cell and interrogate him, to find out if he's just insane or if there's a reason behind the killings. They figured he was most likely insane.

The false alarm was occurring now. It was fairly late at night, maybe about ten. A woman was backed up in an ally and several men were surrounding her, leering dangerously.

"Ya' know, I think I see mirrors in your clothes or somethin', cause I can certainly see myself in 'em." one guy said.

The others laughed at the stupid remark he made to lighten the mood of what they were pretending to do. The woman whimpered, convincingly, and a pool of darkness appeared behind the men.

"Every night on these streets, it's trick or treat... Well tonight? It's TRICK!" Pride shouted, his powers activating.

The darkness began ripping up into a hurricane and tossing the men about. A dark orb had appeared around the woman, protecting her efficiently. The men slammed into the walls and Pride peered into their pre-cognition. They looked like they'd lead fairly decent lives, maybe a vice here or there, but nothing serious out of 'em. He then peered into the memory of darkness.

Now, we're going to learn something right quick. Everything has memory of sorts. Water, blood, trees, anything. Water can also pick up on thoughts, but that's a discussion for a different time. So, naturally, the darkness has memory, the variable of magic having been thrown into it. The men were being told what to do, and were given a large sum of money.

_**If they were paid to do this, then... OH SHIT.**_

Pride turned around in time to get blasted by a Starbolt. A long strand of the Shimmer wrapped about him and dug into his ear, while obsidian energy surrounded him, disabling his powers. The Titans all came out, ready to fight.

Pride began hissing his own Shadow language, clearly pissed. Then a large bellow came from him.

"LET ME THE FEK GO YOU USELESS ANNOYING HERO-WANNABES!" was the general consensus.

Savior dug for information and was suddenly turned completely black and shot into a wall. Nik had lost a mental battle and let Manik fight in his stead.

"I FUCKING TOLD YOU TO LET ME GO YOU BASTARDS!"

Raven held the shield up, having been mentally battle-trained. Well, except for what happened next. For you see, even having experience with someone able to transform into a Dragon, she never expected to meet up with another one. Especially one who can transform in a split-second and shoot off waves of power that knocked everyone back, since they hadn't braced themselves.

"WHEN A DARKAGON TELLS YOU TO LET HIM GO, YOU FUCKING DO IT!" Manik roared, no trace of Nik's voice in him.

Beastboy recovered the fastest and turned into a hawk, then slammed into Nik's face, and blinded him with his talons. The eyes were now gone. And Nik wouldn't be able to do shite about it. But, with the Shimmer out of his head, he shot out a fist covered in Darkness, launching Beastboy away before anyone else could recover.

He failed, as half the team was already up, but he managed to turn back into Nik and warped away.

"I'm going to go into a stream of cursing. I'm not sure when I'm going to stop. You might want to leave now." Savior said to the group of men and the woman, who had all just recovered.

Pride hadn't slammed them about too hard, after all. The shadow-wolf told him there was something fishy about the scene before he shot off for him.

"Damn it! We were so CLOSE!" Robin shouted.

"I am sure we will be successful next time, Robin! We almost got him, so surely we will do better next time." Starfire reassured.

"Hey, at least Beastboy blinded him!" Terra pointed out.

"We still don't know the extent of his powers. He could be able to repair his eyes with his shadow abilities, or any other possibility that might give him back his sight," Savior said.

"That's true. But we still have to track him down. Beat him if we must. But for now, we'll have to bide our time. Pride won't be so proud after this." Robin said.

"Damn straight." Cyborg said, getting back into the T-Car.

The Titans all headed back home, some annoyed, some enraged, some in normal dispositions, and some still muttering curses, primarily Noel, considering how much he needed to wash his fekking mouth out.

And no, I won't be using an 'unlocked back door to the author's chamber joke' right now.

_**Gargarin Cathedral, Immediately Afterwards...**_

Nik was on the roof, coughing violently and shivering. With every cough, an inky black substance, Evil Darkness, came out. Finally, his coughing fit ceased, but he was still sweating and shaking as the night cooled. Mr. Soach opened the door.

"What happened to you?" he demanded, rushing to his side.

Nik looked back up at him with hollowed-eye sockets. Mr. Soach gasped in surprise and mild disgust.

"Let me get you to a doctor. How were you blinded?" Mr. Soach asked.

"I was attacked." Nik said, amidst a cough or two, no Darkness being expelled at this point.

Mr. Soach grabbed Nik and helped him walk down the stairs, rushed.

"I'll get you help. Don't worry." Mr. Soach said.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	3. Trigger: Twitchy

_**Trigger**_

_**Twitchy**_

Without a whisper, without a sound... He pulled the trigger, and twas death abound.

_**Titan's Tower...**_

With Gauntlet and Scalpel gone, Savior and Robin were currently discussing the Pride Problem, as they called it.

"He's clearly a danger to Jump City. His violent intentions have been made pretty damn clear, with at least twenty murders since he started. He's been out of commission, it seems, since Beastboy blinded him. But we musn't assume he's completely out of the way. Pride has certainly shown incredible Darkness manipulation, possibly enough to fix the blindness, or at least substitute it. Tim, we _have _to keep searching for him. If we do not, we could risk losing him to another city, one that may not have heroes, or at least heroes not powerful enough to hold him down long enough for someone else to do so. There could be another Final Night. Do you want to risk that, Tim?" Noel argued.

"Listen, Noel. I've got sources out everywhere, from the slums to the corporations, and they will easily recognize Pride if he goes back into action. For now, we'll have other things to worry about. I've heard from mentioned sources that six metas have entered Jump City, all bearing guns. We have to find them before they cause any trouble. Pride's merely another Punisher. We don't have to worry too much about him for now. He'll be off licking his wounds, certainly giving us enough time to find the metas and-" Tim began, before being interrupted by the alarm blaring.

In a corporate building, those six metas were holding up a building.

_**Pridion Corp. Building...**_

Leon Pridion had started a corporation dedicated to making bulletproof vests, defense weapons, and self-teaching defense tapes available to the masses for a good price. Why or how he started the company is unimportant. All that mattered were the chain of events leading up to the alarm blaring at Titan's Tower.

Six people, all in regular attire came into the building, looking perfectly normal. That's when one of the three girls held up her hand and a gun appeared in it. She created several more guns, two in the heavy category to the two bigger fellows, who were clearly more than capable of handling them, and they all held them up.

"Hands up, people, you know the drill, it's one of those big ass clichés you always seen in movies. Get to it!" one of the men shouted.

The people were herded up the stairs up to the 17th floor. Oddly, he continued counting the people and sent some out. How strange. He moved all the people into the center and the others ushered out several more people. Truly odd.

The man then looked at the corner of the ceiling and began talking.

"Listen up, Titans. Scope here indicated there was a camera there, so I know you can see and hear me." the man said, pointing to a woman holding the black sniper rifle.

"So, we have some demands of you. We have 100 hostages here, precisely, and we want 10,000 bucks for each one of 'em." the woman beside him continued.

"And Gunner's statement tells ya' we want 1 mil. For every hour we don't get payment, we knock off one of these guys." the man threatened.

"Gat's right. And don't even think about trying to trap us. We'll just blow up the building. There are bombs on the top, middle, and bottom floor." one of the bigger men said.

"And bombs are Assault's specialty. He could've built an Atom Bomb in an hour if he wanted to." Gat said.

"So don't try any shit. We'll blow this place to hell if we have to." Assault said.

"We have a rocket already coming this way to get us a safe escape if we need it, so we won't be caught in any of the explosion. We've gotten our asses covered." Gunner said.

"So 1 mil. All we ask for." Gat said.

"You pay. Or they pay. Either way, we're perfectly fine." Gunner continued.

"Better start digging into that bank account." Gat finished.

Bullets burst from his gun, an Uzi, and tore the camera to pieces.

_**Titan's Tower...**_

"Okay. We need a plan, yesterday. Nigel's gone, which is good as he'd be a liability. Gauntlet, however, could actually have served a purpose here. We saw the tape, so we need to find a way to get in, neutralize the bombs, free the hostages, take down the rocket, and take down the gunmetas. Cyborg, you would be the best at defusing the bombs. Beastboy, you could get in undetected easily as a rat or other small creature. Starfire, you'll need to provide cover in case the gunmetas escape. Raven and Terra, you two will assist Starfire. We need as much firepower out there in case of an escape. Noel and I will try to infiltrate the building and take down the gunmetas. Are we clear?" Robin ordered.

"One problem. Scope seems to have an ability for sensing energy if she could find those cameras. Cameras weren't included in the layout of the building, nor are those cameras visible with anything but a microscope. If she can see electrical energy, she can surely see the minor electricity in the human body, along with Cyborg's entire body, considering he's mostly machine at this point." Savior said.

"Raven, do you have any charms to leave someone undetectable, even from the magic itself?" Robin asked.

"The charms would take far too long to create. The best approximate would be a few hours." Raven answered.

"Cyborg, do you have anything similar in nature?" Robin asked.

"Negative, Fearless. The closest I have is one that protects someone's heat from being visible." Cyborg said.

"We'll have to make due with that. Scope will unlikely be able to see our electrical signals due to the amount of electricity coursing through the building. Cyborg should be undetectable because he'll be near the bomb. Raven, change of plan. You'll go with Cyborg and ensure he's always near one of the bombs. Before you go inside, use a soul self to find the first one, then transport yourself to it. Be ready to teleport to the next one as soon as that bomb's deactivated. Scope will most likely pass Cyborg off as part of the electrical signal of the bomb." Robin said.

"What if she doesn't?" Savior asked.

"I'm going by 'most likely' Savior. Not 'what if'. Considering the amount of electrical energy that is put out by bombs, especially home-made, it's incredibly likely she'll pass him off as part of the bomb signature. Now, is everyone aware of their part of the plan?" Robin asked.

"You didn't go into detail on mine." Beastboy said.

"You will infiltrate the building with us. Your job will be to find any other bombs that are most likely planted throughout the building. Cyborg can give you a device that will guide you to any energy readings close to bomb signatures. You're also equipped with a small comlink with Cy, for guidance purposes. Titans, GO!" Robin shouted.

Immediately the Titans took off for Pridion Corp, ready for action.

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…_**

"What do you want from us?" a woman asked, holding her child, protectively.

"Heh. Just a challenge. We were bored at one point, and so we decided to take on the Titans in a battle. We couldn't just bust into the city demanding a fight. Oh no. We'd rather not have Savior bitching at us for hours on end about our mistakes." Gat said.

"You're going to kill people… for a challenge?" the mother asked, horrified.

"Pfft. You believed that? Artillery can't stand a dead body. Necrophobia or somethin' like that." Gunner replied.

"Boss. I got several bioelectric anomalies outside. Several are flying. They seem to be in a group, only meaning the Titans are coming." Scope said.

"Good. The guests of honor have to be here or else there's no reason for the banquet, now, is there?" Gat said, chuckling.

"You wanted them to come? They'll win, though!" the mother said.

"Gat just said we wanted a challenge, didn't he? Jebas woman, are you deaf?" Assault said.

"Okay, Scope, Snipe, you two get into position and look through the building. Make sure only the Titans get through, and give them a hard time gettin' in. Assault, head for the 5th floor and meet them while they're heading up for the next bomb. Artillery, you get to the 12th floor and wait for 'em if they get passed Assault. Which is doubtful." Gunner ordered.

_**Gargarin Cathedral...**_

Nik sat in one of the pews, everyone around him leaving. He had a blindfold around where his eyes were. Mr. Soach came down and sat beside him.

"How did you enjoy today's sermon, Nik?" Mr. Soach said.

"You're actually preaching things people typically don't like hearing. That's definitely good." Nik said.

"Well, that's just how we do it here, now. Now, you said you had a few questions?" Mr. Soach asked.

"Yes sir. I'd like to know... where is Leon Pridion?" Nik asked.

David Soach wasn't surprised by the question. When he ran Nik to the hospital to get the proper surgery done, a quick check was done and it was discovered Nik had, in fact, the same DNA of the boy who died several years ago. Nik explained the fact that he was from a different dimension and David accepted it.

"I must see Leon, to see what he is now." Nik half-pleaded.

"Leon became a successful businessman after Nik and Karen were killed. He started Pridion Corporation about a year after they were killed. About a month or so later, he took in their daughter as his own." Mr. Soach said.

"Wait. The Karen and Nik of this dimension had a daughter? I had no interest in Karen but friendship... how did that happen?" Nik asked.

"Well, different things happen in different dimensions I suppose... Her name is Kiyami. Karen never said why... She's 14." Mr. Soach answered.

Nik then got to his feet and Mr. Soach led him to the back room, where they lived. Mr. Soach turned on the television and put on the news.

"At Leon Corp, it appears that there's been a hostage situation occurring, run by six people, all with guns, who are rumored to be metahumans. Oh! This just in: The Teen Titans are coming to neutralize the situ-"

_Click. _

"What is it, Nik? The Titans should be able to handle it, don't worry." Mr. Soach said.

"No, Mr. Soach, I'm not sure they can. And I am _not_ allowing my daughter, or her adopted father to be killed. No way in _hell_." Nik said.

"But what can you do? You have no weaponry or anything. You're blind, Nik. You can't do anything." Mr. Soach said.

"Hardly, Mr. Soach. There's another difference between me and the me in this dimension." Nik said, making an odd movement with his hands.

Mr. Soach's shadow took a corporeal from and walked in front of Nik, who then made a hand motion that sent it back to the ground. The priest jumped with surprise.

"I'm a King of Darkness. A Darkagon. And I intend to do something about this." Nik said.

"But you're blind, still, King of Darkness or not." Mr. Soach pointed out, still spooked about his shadow coming up.

"I can't see specific things, but my mind can still see shadows, and what causes them. I'm not so helpless, Mr. Soach. I'll be back." Nik said, disappearing into his shadow.

"Good luck, Nik." Mr. Soach said.

A shadowy figure launched up from Mr. Soach, who whirled around.

"Ni-"

_**SLICE!**_

The figure, still a black silhouette, looked down at the sliced Dave Soach and hissed, clearly angry. It closed its hand into an orb-like fist, then began hissing again. An answer similar to his speech was heard. He nodded his head and gave another brief hiss, then disappeared into its shadow.

_Damn it! It's not Manik! _

_Sir, Manik's no longer here._

_Well find him and kill him!_

_Yes sir!_

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	4. Trigger: Ready, Aim

_**Trigger**_

_**Ready, Aim…**_

_**Pridion Corporation, Outside...**_

The Titans arrived, and immediately went to their positions. Terra headed for one corner of the building, while Starfire flew to the opposite corner. Raven began calming herself as her soul self left her and headed for the inside of the building.

Robin began looking around the building and found an area that was unprotected.

"Okay, Cyborg, tell me when all the bombs are deactivated. When they are, Savior and I will break in." Robin ordered through the comlink.

"_Will do, Fearless_." Cyborg replied.

Beastboy morphed rat, strapped on the small device that would lead him to any small bomb signatures, and darted into the building.

Nik emerged from Robin's shadow, getting an instant reaction. A bo-staff almost hit him in the chest, but he managed to grab it.

"Don't play with me, child. My alternate's daughter is in there, along with someone I consider a friend. I'm going in there," Nik growled.

"No way, Pride. We've got this situation under our control. You are NOT screwing it up. Stay here and don't do ANYTHING." Robin ordered.

"Your plan better work, boy. Or I'll kill all of you, myself." Pride warned.

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…_**

"Okay... I know why you're doing this. But how did you come together?" the same woman, clutching her child, asked.

"Well, why not?" Gat asked, "It started when we were kids."

"Oh yeah. Gat had an extensive collection of the few comic books based on the adventures of the various super heroes who allowed it. Of course, no information was given about the superhero other than their personality and pseudonym. We always loved going over to his house just to read those and discuss them in awe. It was only about 11 years ago, as a matter of fact." Gunner said.

"A year or two ago, however, we found that Gunner and I developed powers of our own. Some mutagen, I believe. Our parents told us that my grandmother had powers as well. But details are pointless." Gat continued.

"I could do this." Gunner demonstrated, creating a gun.

"And any gun I touch has unlimited ammo. The bullets recreate themselves when I touch the gun. I never delved into how it works." Gat said, unable to demonstrate without making too much noise.

"Scope was just a genius. She created a helmet that could detect heat, electricity of all sorts, had X-Ray vision and a few other features. Snipe had uncanny aim. That was most likely just several years of practice she had, or an inherited trait. No one really cared, as she didn't." Gunner said, continuing to name powers.

"Assault and Artillery were twin brothers who had builds like giants. They're the only people I know of who could handle a hand-held machine gun while barely feeling the kick. They practiced with all sorts of heavy duty weapons. They also studied bombs. Assault knew how to make good bombs, efficiently. Artillery knew how to make a timer or activator to set them off." Gat finished.

"But that doesn't explain how you came to here..." the woman said.

"I was getting to that. You see, when we developed our abilities, they had sent out a few new comics. The Teen Titans. We were fascinated by their abilities. They were unstoppable, it seemed. We also watched the news to see more about them. They lived up to the expectations we drew from the comics. Of course, the news slanted it against you a few times, but we didn't pay attention. We saw almost every villain you fought. Sometimes, we even expected 'em to beat Slade. In a way, they always did win." Gunner started.

"So, with our powers discovered, we decided to become a group of super heroes, as well. The Gun Gang, we called ourselves. We knew, however, that we couldn't just bust into a fight, guns blazing. We'd be more likely to get thrown into jail with the bad guys. We didn't want that. So, we developed a fool-proof plan, in order to figure out if we're really hero material. After all, if you can beat a hero, you can BE a hero." Gat said, smirking.

"But, you'll be considered villains after this heist. You won't be able to do any hero work." a man spoke up.

"Hey, it's Leon Pridion. Sorry about the heist. It's just that you're the only person with a building perfect for the plan. Now, as to your statement: No we won't. We plan on giving the money back to the Titans a few hours after getting it, if we succeed. If we don't, well, we'll probably just do our time then leave. A few years later, we might try again, only with a different approach." Gunner answered.

"Uncle... do you think they'll win?" a girl about 14 asked.

"Whose the girl?" Scope asked gently, looking her over.

"My niece, Kiyami. Why do you ask?" Leon asked back, wary of her.

"She visiting?" Scope inquired.

"I'm living with him. My parents died, alright?" Kiyami snapped.

There was a short pause, then Scope walked over to the girl.

"You're not the only one, kid. I've been living with Gat most of my life. It's tough, ain't it?" she said, kneeling next to the girl.

"I guess..." Kiyami said, no longer looking Scope in the eyes.

"Be strong, awright? It's not so bad when you've got a good parent or two. And don't worry. We're just testing ourselves. We don't plan on killing anyone." Scope said, smiling.

Kiyami muttered, "Thanks," and huddled closer to her uncle.

"Cute kid." Scope said, smiling at Gat.

"Wherever we go, you always have to make friends, doncha'?" Gat asked, nudging her.

**_Pridion Corporation, 1st Floor…_**

Raven's soul self flew, unseen, through the rooms, looking for anything resembling a bomb. Many rooms just held computers within them, maybe a brief case, in which she found no bombs. She continued searching for about another minute, before she finally found it.

The suitcase was light brown, with two handles. Fake leather. In a flash, the actual Raven and Cyborg appeared. Raven opened her eyes when the soul self entered back into her.

"I'm going to have to rest a few minutes, Victor. Using my soul-self that long is draining." Raven said, stretching a few seconds, then getting back into a meditative pose.

"Alright, then. Guess it's just you and me, then, eh?" Cyborg said to the briefcase.

He scanned it, finding that the bomb was button-activated only, so he unzipped the suitcase and pulled out the bomb.

"Here's hoping they don't activate it," he muttered, as he flipped open the top, after unscrewing it.

He had to admit, it wasn't poorly made. Artillery knew his bombs. There were several dud wires that would've fooled just about anyone but Victor Stone. He scanned every wire, trying to figure out which were duds, which were triggers, and which ones would turn off the activator. It would be difficult and he knew it.

**_Pridion Corporation, 3rd Floor…_**

So far, Beastboy wasn't having much luck. He followed several signals similar to bombs, only to discover that they were fuse boxes, PDAs, Laptops, or some other small, highly electrical device.

Finally, he found himself a ticker. He found a small ball, the size of an orange, that had several wires sticking out of it. A small screen was on it, showing 3:00. He breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't change after a few seconds.

From what he knew about bombs, he knew not to chew on any wires. The actual way to defuse a bomb was to get rid of the activator, most likely by unclipping the wires from the back of it. So, he set to work. He unscrewed the activator, then looked at the 24 wires connected to the back of it.

An audible gulp sound was made.

He looked at them all again, then unscrewed the casing of the activator, with his teeth, like last time. He looked at all the places that a wire might possibly be, based on the chip hidden behind the casing. He made a slight nibble on the wires that he knew weren't it, to mark them, then tried to determine which ones were.

It was down to three. He would have to guess. And he hated guessing. He briefly morphed human to see if there was a red one or not. There wasn't; all three were black. This guy was good. He morphed back to rat, then looked to see any distinct markings.

"SCORE!" he shouted, noticing a mark.

One of the wires had a small 'A' marked onto it. It was incredibly small, but Beastboy was able to notice it, as he was right up against it. He chewed.

The bomb went off.

However, rather than exploding, it sent an electrical surge through Beastboy, changing him back to human and knocking him out cold.

_**17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…**_

"Gunner, one of the small bombs just went off. The heat signal next to it was originally small, but now its about human size. Beastboy. The first big bomb is being operated as well. Its hatch has been opened." Scope reported.

"Good. That means Beastboy's out of commission. More likely than not, he'll wake up in a few hours. Cyborg is the one working on the big bomb, I presume?" Gunner asked.

"Yes. But he was teleported in. Must've been Raven. Robin and Savior are on the side with the window open on the 21st floor, as planned. Starfire's at the same position as earlier, and so is Terra. Gauntlet and Scalpel aren't here. However, there's another signal out there I can't determine. The heat signal is less significant, but its about the same height as Cyborg, although not the same shoulder width. Most likely it has cold related powers, but the signal should be weaker if it has that element within it." Scope finished her report.

"Okay. Great, we have another thing to calculate. Is it near the Titans?" Gunner asked.

"It's next to Savior and Robin. Think it's that vigilante we heard about, recently?" Scope asked.

"That's the most likely explanation. Keep an eye on it. I heard it can teleport like Raven, but it can also see through shadows. The last news report states that the Titans had blinded him, more or less. Still, beware." Gunner ordered.

Scope returned to walking about the room, looking outside, inverting between heat and electrical detection.

"Assault, get down to the 3rd floor. Pick up the green teen and head back up to us." Gunner ordered over her headset.

_Will do._

_**Pridion Corporation, Outside...**_

"Beastboy… Beastboy? Damn it." Robin cursed.

"What's happened?" Savior asked, getting prepared.

"Beastboy's communicator shut off. I can't reach him now. I don't know what's happened." Robin answered, switching the communicator to Cyborg.

"Cyborg, you still there?" he asked.

"_Yeah man. Raven's getting' her strength back, while I work on defusing the bomb. Anything wrong?"_

"Beastboy's communicator shut off and won't pick back up. All I get is static, now. Do you know what could've happened?" Robin reported.

_No idea. Most likely some electrical interference from the bombs. They put off a lot of electricity. 'Specially this one. I'm havin' a hard time deactivating it. I've almost got it. Ah! Here it is. The actual wire is marked with an 'A'. One down, two to go._

The screen went to static.

"Cyborg? Ya' there, Cyborg? Damn it! Raven! Are you there, Raven?!" he shouted.

Raven's communicator was also static.

"It's the bombs. They weren't explosives, Robin. They were electrical. They must have been programmed to go off when the right wire was clipped. Beastboy is probably unconscious, along with Cyborg and Raven. Now, the Six are gonna' get those three for additional leverage." Savior assessed.

"Not if we get to 'em first." Robin said, looking at Pride.

"Robin, no. He's a threat. And even if he would help us, he's a rookie." Savior warned.

"You're gonna' have to, Whiteboy. All I have to do is teleport through their shadows, then teleport 'em back here. Normally, I wouldn't, but I'm not letting Leon or Kiyami die. And clearly it relies on ensuring the operation goes over smoothly. And boy, I have a lot more experience than you think." Pride replied.

"Do it. You know Beastboy's signature?" Robin ordered.

"He's the one who blinded me. Of course I know his signature. Raven should be easy as well, since she put the shield around me. Cyborg's right next to her, it seemed by the conversation you just had, so he won't be a problem, either. I'll be back shortly." Pride said.

_**17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…**_

"The signature I detected earlier is definitely the vigilante. It's teleported to Cyborg and Raven's position. Assault won't be able to get to them fast enough. We'll have to settle for Beastboy. We may also have a fight on our hands before we intended." Scope said.

"Okay, give your helmet Snipe right quick. She'll need to pick him off. Tell her to aim for the shoulders, though. Don't kill him." Gat ordered.

Scope did as told and relayed the orders. Snipe activated the helmet and searched for Pride's heat signature.

_**Pridion Corporation, 1st Floor…**_

Pride shot up through Raven's shadow, first. He ended up beneath her, causing her to shift to the side, still unconscious from the electricity.

When he was all the way out, he picked her up, then teleported through his shadow.

He reappeared through Cyborg's shadow, barely able to shift him aside. He started to pick him up, when a bullet tore through his left shoulder. He shouted in pain, but managed to teleport himself and Cyborg out of the building.

_**Pridion Corporation, Outside...**_

"Here's Cyborg. Hope your happy. I just got _shot_, thanks to him." Pride growled.

"We still have someone inside whose out cold. Can you make it to him?" Robin asked.

"Yeah. I've suffered worse than this. Who the hell is workin' this… Oh. Right. It said six metas with guns. I'll be back." Pride answered, disappearing.

"You still think we can't trust him?" Robin asked.

"Do you?" Savior asked.

"Not entirely sure. He said he's only helping because his alternate's daughter is in there." Robin answered.

"I doubt we'll ever be able to actually trust him. He's got his own agenda, that's been made obvious. It's not just killing criminals. I'm just not sure what, yet." Savior said.

_**17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…**_

Pride appeared in the building, from Beastboy's shadow as Assault walked in to it. Everyone in the room froze. He smiled as he noticed their shadows suddenly tense up.

"I'll be taking freak boy back now. The Titans miss their pet." Pride said, smirking in an evil way.

Snipe took aim again. Pride charged forward, grabbed Beastboy, and then he was shot again. This time it was his right shoulder. He roared in pain, and Assault took advantage of the moment of hesitation. He shot out his fist and knocked Pride backwards, to the floor.

He looked over and saw the shadow of what was undoubtedly a rocket, before looking back up at Assault.

"Nice shot." Pride applauded, snapping his nose back into place before disappearing.

_**Pridion Corporation, Outside...**_

"Got your pet. Now, I don't think you have near as much control over the situation as you think you do. Three of your members are down. The rocket is already there, prepared to take flight. You're losing, bird boy." Pride said, smirking.

"Don't, Savior. I know what you'll do, so just… don't." Robin ordered, holding up his hand to Savior.

"Oh, lemme guess. Whiteman's got somethin' to say to me. I don't give a shit. The only reason I'm still right here is because I know for a fact that the rocket is aimed in this direction. Of course, they could change the direction, but not immediately. So get Tinkerbelle and Stick Girl ready for it to shoot out in that direction." Pride ordered, sinking into his shadow.

"Not a word," Robin ordered a seething Savior, "Starfire. Terra. The escape rocket is supposedly aimed for us. Make sure to keep a close eye on our side and be ready to zip after it."

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corp. Building…_**

Nik walked up the steps to the door way of the 17th floor, his hands up.

"Hey. I surrender. I just wanna' see Leon Pridion and Kiyami Gatrite." He said, his hands still up.

"How do we know we can trust your word?" Gat asked, his gun pointed straight at Nik's head.

"Because if I had wanted to kill the six of you, I would've done by now. However, I know something. You're not the bad guys. I had a shadow-link open to this room. I've heard every word you've said." Nik answered.

"Ah. Well, Kiyami and Mr. Pridion are in here. Do you want me to lead you to them?" Gat asked.

"I'd recognize Leon's shadow anywhere." Nik said.

"Just beware that we'll be watching you." Gat warned.

"Don't care. By the way, keep the rocket directed the way it is. I told the Titans it was pointed the opposite way it actually is." Nik said, smirking.

"Good to know." Gat replied, mulling over all the new information.

Nik walked over to Leon and Kiyami and sat down.

"Well, hello Leon. Ya' recognize me?" Nik asked.

"No… should I?" Leon asked, wary.

"Well, you and Karen took care of me when I broke my leg when you were 10. When you were 8, you helped me with some odd jobs. When you were 9, you went to the zoo while Karen and I stayed home because she was sick. Remember now?" Nik asked.

"……….You're dead… I know you are. I went to your funeral… Nik?" Leon asked.

"Dad?" Kiyami asked.

"An alternate version of your Nik & Dad, to be sure, but Nik nonetheless." Nik said, smiling.

"He's… my father?" Kiyami asked.

"Yeah… I can't believe it… You're really here." Leon said, smiling broadly.

"It's me alright, Leon. You look a bit different than I expected, although I guess corporate success builds a different body than being a warrior of the earth." Nik said, chuckling.

"Hehehe. I guess so. You got a plan to get us out of this mess, Nik?" Leon asked.

"Not yet. I'm thinking, though. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to screw up the Titans even worse." Nik said.

"What've you got against them? They're the local heroes, Nik." Leon asked, his smile fading.

"They did _this _to me." Nik said, pulling off the bandana.

"Yeesh." Assault said.

"Put it back on! I'm about to lose my lunch over here!" Snipe shouted.

Nik put the bandana back on, covering up the eye sockets once more.

"Well, I'll admit, you got a pretty good reason to not like 'em. And I guess you could help out the Gun Gang. After all, they're just trying to see if they're cut out for the hero world. Let's start plannin'." Leon said, a devious grin spreading.

"Now that's the Leon I know." Nik said, smirking deviously as well.

"Dad. You're scaring me." Kiyami deadpanned.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	5. Trigger: Fire

_**Fire!**_

_**Another short arc. Dammit. Ah well. You'll get over it. Sorry for the short-ness. At least it's not long and drawn out, eh? I hope I kept everyone in character…**_

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corporation…_**

"Hey, Gat, I know something 'bout the Titans you might like to know." Nik said.

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Gat asked, amused.

"Savior's Shimmer is weak to blades. Sends him into a temporary shock when it's cut. Every time unless he puts up a block." Nik answered.

"Useful information… for what?" Gat asked.

"For you to win. Just a little vengeance for tearing out my eyes. It was quite annoying, you see." Nik replied, offhandedly.

"True. Well then, anything else?" Gat continued.

"You won't have to worry. The Titans will soon be forced to surrender. After all, it's been 58 minutes. They can't stand a casualty." Nik said, smiling.

"Go see if they're prepared to surrender." Gat said.

"I have an idea to help you out…" Nik started.

_**Outside Pridion Corporation…**_

"Whiteman. Bird boy. Are you prepared to surrender? It's been 59 minutes. They're ready to kill." Nik said, showing up, seeming concerned.

Robin and Savior chose to ignore the derogatory comments for now.

"Fine. Here's the first 10,000. Tell 'em not to shoot." Robin said.

Nik took the envelope and disappeared.

Something appeared that made Robin go cold.

A body was flung out the window. Starfire shot towards it with all speed.

"NO!" Robin shouted, running towards it.

The body slammed into the building, crashing through a window. Starfire backed away from it, due to the glass shards flying everywhere.

"SHIT!" Savior cursed, running after Robin.

Nik reappeared behind Robin.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't get there in time. They'll spare someone next hour. But they said that the offer's changed. Because you tried to infiltrate the building, in two hours, they'll kill everyone and make off with the money, however much they have." Pride said, his head down.

"Like hell! We have pictures of all six of them! They won't make it a week before getting caught!" Savior retorted.

"One: They'll still have killed those people. Two: They're using costumes and special masks. The security camera wouldn't pick that up." Nik said in reply.

"…-Make the deal." Robin muttered

"What was that?" Pride asked, a hand to his ear.

"We'll make the deal. Here's the other 990,000 dollars they demanded." Robin said, holding up a briefcase.

"You did the right thing." Pride said, sinking again.

Robin smiled.

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corporation…_**

"Here's the money, Gat. Robin was humiliated. Good job." Pride said, holding up the briefcase.

"…Not so good. These are counterfeits." Scope said.

"Beg pardon?" Gat asked.

"They're counterfeits. They don't have the strip of metal in them, nor do they have several of the other markings proving they're real. The Titans tried to trick us." Scope continued.

"Damn it." Snipe said, throwing the money down.

"Let's get 'em back." Pride said.

_**Outside Pridion Corporation…**_

Another body was thrown out the window. Starfire, yet again, wasn't able to get it before it smashed through another window.

"What the hell?" Savior demanded.

"They figured out they were counterfeits, Whiteman." Pride said.

"DAMN!" Robin shouted.

"Best just give 'em the real money. In 15 minutes, another body 'll come flying out." Pride said.

"Oh really? Like this body?" Savior asked, holding up the head of the first body.

After the glass had cleared away enough, Starfire had flown in and found the body. It was kind of hacked up, revealing it wasn't a real person. A manikin. Leon needed them to test his vests.

"That was a warning. And a funny one at that." Pride said, smiling.

"The deal's off, Nik. Tell them that." Robin said, his brow furrowed in anger.

"Too bad." Pride said, shrugging his shoulders.

In a sudden motion, he sent out a dark tendril that snatched up a briefcase, one that had the actual million dollars and disappeared through his shadow.

**_17th Floor, Pridion Corporation…_**

"Here's your real 1 mil. They figured out the manikin ploy, so I just stole it. Sorry if that disappointed you." Pride said.

"Ah well. I suppose we'll just go on with the plan. Maybe later we'll come back and help out. Maybe we'll join the army special services. I like that idea." Scope said.

"Alright then. Fire the rocket and let's get out of these masks. Startin' to itch." Gat said, pulling off the mask. He looked a good bit different without the mask, which was realistic enough to fool anyone.

The Gun Gang pointed their guns at the people, indicating for them to get up.

"No one'll get hurt if you just all walk out the door. Go on. Hurry. 'Cept for you seven. Leon. Kiyami. Nik. And five others. One… three… five… alright. You will stay here, hidden. If you could warp them somewhere, Nik, that'd be appreciated." Scope said.

The groups did as told.

_**Outside Pridion Corporation…**_

"The rocket's shooting off! STARFIRE! TERRA! TAKE IT DOWN!" Robin shouted into his communicator.

The two zoomed around the building, ready to take it down. Starfire threw a well-aimed Starbolt directly into the right wing of the rocket. It began smoking as it went down. Terra put a piece of her rock under it, steadying it.

Starfire and Terra carried it back to Robin, who opened the cockpit to find…

"No one?" Robin said, baffled.

"They're not here?" Savior asked.

"No. Where could they be…?" Robin said, looking around.

The hostages had already gotten out and several had been carted off for quick treatment.

"They've gotten away, Robin. They changed their appearance and wore costumes. Nik probably teleported them." Savior said.

"Now, we've got to get him. He's been helping enemy metas. He is priority one threat, Savior. You understand me?" Robin asked.

Savior nodded.

"Alright. Let's get Raven, Cyborg, and Beastboy back to the Tower. We'll take care of them there." Robin ordered.

_**Titan's Tower…**_

It had been one week since the Gun Gang had successfully gotten 1,000,000 dollars out of the Titans. Scalpel and Gauntlet had come back, to Savior's annoyance.

"Man it was annoying there! Even more boring since LAST time!" Gauntlet said, sitting down after having walked in.

"You didn't steal anymore towels or robes, did you?" Savior asked, remembering the last time Gauntlet had come back from a hotel.

"No way, Noel. I'm way passed my kleptomaniac days!" Gauntlet declared.

"Which is exactly why you have my jacket in your suitcase." Savior deadpanned.

Gauntlet sweat dropped and chuckled nervously, stuffing the jacket further into the suitcase.

"What was that?" Scalpel asked, hearing a thunk.

"What was what?" Cyborg asked.

"No. I heard it, too. It was a 'ker-thunk' noise, however stupid that sounded." Beastboy said, his ears perking up.

The Titans quickly headed up to the top of the Tower, where they saw a briefcase and a note.

_Dear Titans,_

_Nice working against you. Hope never to do it again. Now that we know we're good at what we do, we may start up our own hero team. Hope to work with you someday!_

_-Gun Gang_

Robin opened the briefcase to see the money. The one million dollars that Nik had stolen for the Gun Gang.

"Hope to work with you, too." Robin muttered, half-smiling.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	6. B&W: Prowling

_**Prowling**_

_**Gargarin Cathedral...**_

Nik sat on the top-most tower, his head in his hands. It had been a few weeks since David Soach had been killed, but it still hurt. He knew it would always hurt, but he also knew that he would have to get over it, just like Karen's death. No matter what, he must go on.

He wiped the single tear off his face, stood up, and looked at the darkness he would always be forced to see. He allowed his shadow to connect to the web of darkness called Jump City.

__

"Now, Manik. Shouldn't you be more alert than that? Surely you would've sensed me coming, if you were. Ah well. I bet you have a few friends that want to see if you can play. Maybe they'll grab your attention."

_**Gargarin Cathedral...**_

Pride snapped up.

"_Them?_ Impossible! Not here... But, what of their alternates? Surely... No. It's them. Crow and Worc." Pride muttered.

He focused and sank into his shadow, searching for the dark energies of two foes.

_**Jump City Uptown...**_

Finally. Someone attacks uptown, rather than downtown. That was gettin' kinda' old.

Pride emerged from the shadow of a large building and "gazed" beyond it. He felt it for sure this time. Two beings. He could not see their appearance, but they had not changed since his last battle with them.

One was a young woman, around the age of 18. She wore a white suit that gave her a very bird-like appearance. A bird-like helmet was over her head, but her eyes were visible. They were pure white.

The other was a much older man. He wore a black robe with a crocodile-like shoulder pad. He had a scruffy beard and his eyes were pure black.

"Good afternoon, Nik." the man said.

"Good afternoon to you as well, Francis and Lenore." Nik replied.

"It has been a while since we last met, hasn't it?" Francis said.

"Well, considering I killed you, and your psychotic daughter committed suicide afterwards, I'm not surprised." Manik snarked.

"When you've had power torn away from, you're left so empty, you're already dead." Lenore said, savagely.

"How nice for you." Manik deadpanned.

"Now... shall we get down to business?" Francis asked.

"Do let's." Pride said, a smile on his face.

He put his hand forward, allowing several strings of darkness to shoot forth. They twisted and sped up their pace at a rapid rate, slamming into Worc. However, she had put up a shield at the last second, defending herself. She was still sent backwards from the force of the blow.

Crow formed a circle with his hands, and black energy shot up around him. Pride froze, unable to move because of the spell. Black energy swarmed up around him, as the magic stirred at an incredible rate.

"WATER! WATER! ELECTRICITY! FIRE! WIND!"

The magic followed its orders. Pride was slammed from both sides with an insane amount of water. While still drenched, he took an electric shock. Fire hit him, a split-second after he put up a shield. However, the heat was still vast as it was swept away by a hurricane-force wind, him along with it.

Pride was thrown about, finally able to escape the tornado-like winds with a swift teleportation. He rolled several feet, before losing enough momentum to get up. He snarled as his skin grew darker.

"Ah... so weak that you have to rely on Manik more often? Pity..." Crow mocked.

"Let me kill him, Crow. Oh, please. I've waited for this ever since the Orb was stolen from us," Worc demanded, a bloodlust visible on her face.

"You already have a body count too large for my tastes. You won't add me to that list," Pride snapped.

With that, his left hand turned into a draconic claw. He shot forward at high speeds, grabbed Worc, and dug his nails into her torso. A scream pierced the mid day air.

_**Titans Tower...**_

The alarm blared as the team blazed to life. They all ran towards the screen and watched the scene with confusion.

Pride had jumped into the air and threw Worc into Crow. They continued fighting as the Titans watched.

"Okay, Pride's fighting these two, for whatever reason. We don't know whose actually the one we need to fight, so, we'll need a quick recon. Raven, Starfire, and Savior, you three head for the area. Scout it out and figure out whose actually trying to do harm. The rest of you, be prepared to go into combat," Robin ordered.

_**Jump City Uptown...**_

Crow, after catching Worc and setting her down, shot a blast of cold wind that froze Pride's left arm.

"Bastard. Still up to those pathetic tricks, are we?" Pride snarled, leaping up higher to gain more and more altitude.

A black, flat circle shot up beneath Pride and allowed him to go higher. Finally, he was several hundred feet up, causing Worc and Crow to look like dots, moving about, trying to gather a plan.

With a smile, he jumped off the platform and was surrounded by black energies. He twirled, and darkness shot out about him, making a swirl effect. And as he did so, he changed more and more into a dragon. Wings sprouted out, claws replaced hands and feet, and his eyes became slits. He had a demonic appearance to him as the scales appeared as well. However, he changed no more as he slammed into the roof of the building, a shockwave going out, forcing Crow and Worc away from the building.

He was doing a handstand when he hit the building; he flipped up and landed on his feet as he searched for his enemies. A different sight caught his eye. He didn't actually see her, but the shadow was familiar. The Tamaranean girl, Starfire. What was she doing here, alone? Pride looked elsewhere for his actual targets. THERE.

The wings spread as he shot off for Crow. The offensive magician got up in time to be slammed in the face by Pride's elbow. They tumbled backwards, then Pride formed a black shield that expanded rapidly enough to throw Crow away some. Pride shot up to his feet, while Crow was tossed into the concrete floor even harder.

Pride walked over to him and, using his claw feet, sliced off Crow's left hand. He shouted in pain, then held up his right hand, shooting a bolt of light into Pride. Worc flew over to her father and held the stump. A look of anger grew on her face, as she picked up the hand and put it against the wrist. White light surrounded it, and the arm was back to normal, although the blood was still on it.

She looked up at Pride, who had lost the bandana he wore around his eyes to cover the empty sockets.

"Who did that? I'd like to thank them," she muttered, helping Crow to his feet.

"So, Nik… You'd like to give up, yet?" Crow asked.

"After all the people you killed? Hell no! I'll put you back in the ground. I've done it before!" Pride called across the building.

He walked over to them, a sword-like construction forming from his right hand with a shield-like construction his left.

Worc seethed at the form approaching. He had used the exact same look as when he had killed her father.

She put her hands out and formed a shield of white energy in front of her. She made a gesture with her hands, then pulled her hands back, slightly.

Pride looked at the display and smiled. A new technique? Good. She needed one. It might just make the fight interesting.

Worc pushed hands forward, with a shout. The shield slammed into Pride before he could blink. He was sent sprawling through the air, finally skimming the building enough to stop.

_Holy shit._

**That what you call interesting? I swear you humans are such dumbasses. **

_Hey! I thought she was only defense, not offense!_

Pride tried to get up, but couldn't, for all the energy drained and injury gained. He fell back down and hit the concrete.

"How do you like getting struck to the ground, yourself, you bastard? How does it feel, knowing your enemy is about to take your life, just as you did theirs, once before?" Worc asked, above him, holding a dagger.

Crow knocked her out of the way as a Starbolt shot for her. He blasted it with ice, making it drop.

"You will not kill him!" Starfire shouted, preparing another one.

Pride could only lie there, pissed as he changed back into his normal self, pissed that he was getting help. He finally managed to pull his thoughts together and focus. He sank into his shadow, hoping to get to the nearest source of help who wouldn't ask too many questions. He did.

Crow and Worc now faced Starfire, Raven, and Savior. While Pride had only "seen" Starfire, that was because the other two didn't grab his attention.

"Now, who are you two?" Raven asked, her hands surrounded by the obsidian energy of her mind.

"What, Nik hasn't spoken of us? I'm so disappointed. Surely he'd remember us? Bah. Can't be too surprising. We'll see you later!" Crow said, grabbing Worc and disappearing.

"Damn it! Pride disappeared and now two more threats are here. Lovely," Savior spat.

"Calm down. Pride's around here somewhere. It'll be difficult, but we'll eventually find him. As for those two, they shouldn't be too much of a problem for all of us," Raven consoled.

"Let's just get back to the tower," Savior said, calming down.

_**Pridion Corp, Leon's Office…**_

Leon was just hanging up when Nik appeared on the floor. Nik was fairly seriously injured, but Leon was sure that he and Kiyami could fix him up.

Kiyami walked in when Leon called her.

"What happened to dad?" she asked.

"It'll probably be on the news," Nik said, on his hands and feet now.

"Let's get him patched up. C'mon!" Leon ordered.

Nik fell back on his rear and just decided to sit, rather than stand. He hated having to get medical attention from his daughter and friend, but he decided to suck it up.

"Who did you fight?" Leon asked, getting a bandage for the head wound.

"Crow and Worc. Also known as Francis and Lenore," Nik answered.

"Could you go into a deeper explanation? I'm not the same Leon you know," Leon replied, focused on wrapping the bandage right.

"Right. Well…" Nik began.

_**Titans Tower…**_

"Report?" Robin asked.

"The two beings were similar to Sword and Shield. One attacks while the other defends. However, rather than being brother and sister, they seem more like father and daughter. We'll probably need the information on them from Pride, as he seemed to know them," Savior answered.

(Sword and Shield, for you non-Legendverse readers, were semi-villains in Jedi-And's _Flashing lights and sounds_. Go read it!)

"Well then, Pride was already a high-class threat. We'll need to capture him, immediately after the other two beings are taken care of. Pride, while he's had a streak of murders, is obviously the good guy in this fight. We'll deal with him afterwards. Beastboy and Gauntlet, you do recon. Find the two, then report their location. We'll get there as quickly as possible," Robin ordered.

The two goofs of the team nodded, then took off, heading out of the Tower.

Savior muttered thanks for Gauntlet's absence as he headed up to his room. Robin went to file the reports on the threats, trying to classify them all and figure out exactly what to do. Before he did, however, Scalpel caught him.

"Tim, I'm going out to the nearest café. Sophie wanted to talk a bit, but can't make it to the Tower. Larger workload because of Pride," Scalpel told him.

"Alright. But be back as soon as you can, and be sure to keep your Communicator's line open in case of an emergency," Tim said.

"I should be back in about an hour," Scalpel said, walking off.

"Hope he doesn't run into any trouble, out there," Robin muttered, heading inside his room.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	7. B&W: Scars Within

_**Scars Within...**_

_**Heh. This will be an explanation chapter. To give background information on Crow & Worc, ya' know? Figure out why/how they're here. And who they are.**_

_**Reefenji City, Eyarth...**_

**1987**

Here there was a man by the name of Francis Gharin. Age 23. He was married to a woman by the name of Ore.

She was holding a newborn girl, who was giggling in her arms. He was holding a newborn boy, asleep in his arms.

"He's so cute asleep. They both are. My precious little jewels." Francis said, a smile on his face that only a father can wear.

"Lenore's starting to look tired." Ore said, looking at her yawning girl.

"Sweet dreams." Francis whispered to his daughter.

Out of the window, another presence watched the family. It was a see-through shadow, hovering in the air. It seemed to show approval, and it vanished.

**1996**

The presence showed up outside a house. Only this time, ten people were with it. They shared no resemblance, other than a black, circular pendant. They walked up to the door of the house. The presence pointed inside and hissed.

_Get the girl. Kill the woman. Mark the man. Leave the boy._

The leader nodded, as a bulkier man came up and crashed the door down for her. Pandemonium ensued within the house.

Francis ran towards the group, but was knocked back. The leader pointed at one of the men. He nodded and pulled out a poker. He grasped it, concentrated, and it started to steam and turn red.

The woman walked into the living room. Ore leapt up in front of her children.

"I won't let you hurt my children!" Ore shouted, her arms spread out.

The woman showed no emotion and spoke nothing. She raised her hand, a black symbol appeared on her hand, and an energy spear jettisoned from her palm into Ore's chest. She screamed for a second, then fell to the floor, dead.

"Mommy!" a 9-year old Lenore screamed, getting down to her knees next to her mother.

"Mom!" a 9-year old Grey shouted, his hands outstretched towards her.

A noticeable fact was that he had no left leg. A gharial had torn it off the year earlier.

"Monsters!" Grey shouted, pointing at the woman, who continued to show no emotion.

The woman jerked her head to the two men behind her. They nodded, then went over to Lenore, restrained her, and picked her up.

"NO!" Grey shouted, rolling in his wheelchair after them.

One of the men glared at him, and he was paralyzed. Not by fear, but by some force. A magic of some malevolent kind.

Francis's scream was heard by Grey, but there was nothing he could do.

The men let Francis go. He was paralyzed by the presence, as its mark was imprinted on Francis. The mark was the black, featureless circle, with two lines through it, like an 'x'.

The woman wrapped a bandana across Lenore's mouth, silencing her. They walked out of the house, and then the dark presence surrounded them, hissing.

_Very good. Now, let's get back to the site. You know the rituals. Keep her there and never let her leave._

**1997**

Lenore bore many scars. One wrapped completely around her right arm, like a ribbon. Two others were on her cheeks, similar to the one given to her father.

She wore a grey outfit that showed her face and arms, but that was it.

A man pulled her out of the cage she was in. She looked up at him with a hatred no child should know of, should even see. Yet, there it was. A fire more intense than ever before on the planet Eyarth.

The man tied her to a pole. She knew what would come. The dark presence invaded her mind.

_Hello._

Screw you.

_Such language._

Burn in hell.

_Are you ready?_

Die.

_Well?_

I hope that the pain I've faced is nothing compared to what you'll face.

_Are you ready, Lenore?_

Don't call me that.

_Then what should I call you?_

_Worc._

_Very good… Kill them all._

The wind whipped all around the girl. Her eyes opened, and they were alight. She tore through the cords bonding her to the pole, took the dagger from the man in front of her and stabbed him repeatedly. He fell.

She whirled about, taking in her opponents.

She killed everyone of them in minutes, efficiently, effectively, and effortlessly.

_Very, very good. Now, go to sleep, Worc. _

The girl closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she fell to the ground, back to normal. And very, very tired.

She was found an hour later by hikers who decided to go a different route than normal.

**1998**

"Lenore, what did you do!" Francis demanded.

"It's not me, dad! Worc did it!" Lenore shouted.

"Who is Worc?" Francis shot back, looking at the devastation.

An intricate symbol was carved into the wall, along with several words not of the English language. Lenore was holding a knife, looking somewhat confused.

"She's the voice I told you about. I went to sleep an hour ago and I woke a minute ago, to see that!" Lenore answered, pointing at the symbol with the knife.

"You expect me to believe that?" Francis asked, his arms crossed, glaring.

"It's the truth!" Lenore snapped.

**1999**

Turns out, it was the truth. Francis had his own daughter committed until she could recover. He would grieve, until his own voice spoke.

You don't need family. What are you crying about?

For a whole year, he continued to hear the voice. It drove him into the same insanity his daughter had been driven to.

**2000**

A different presence flew to Kanaan City Asylum. She had a mission to carry out. She flew through the rooms, finally stopping at two different rooms. There lay two familiar faces.

Francis and Lenore.

An orb shot from the presence, then split and was absorbed into the two beings. Their eyes opened, as they were given new life.

Crow and Worc were born. And they had a mission.

KILL MANIK.

The presence was saddened by the taint she felt within the two, but she could do nothing about it. That was not part of her mission. She couldn't purify them, even to save her friend from being attacked.

Karen Pridion flew back to her plane of true existence.

**2001**

They failed by a slim margin. Close but no cigar.

They sat in their cells, planning on how to get back at Nik.

They would continue to do so for four years.

**2005**

The dark presence came back. The two opened their eyes again, this time with even more maliciousness behind the fog within their eyes.

Crow and Worc were back on their hunt. They were released, even stronger than last time.

The hunt would soon end. They murdered countless people, all to draw Pride's attention. Mercilessly, he attacked them. Without remorse, he killed Crow. Worc, weakened, he let live. He had other businesses to attend to.

Karen Pridion flew back to Worc and Crow, as nothing more than a ball of light. She flew through the pair, taking back the Star Orb. Worc cried in pain, on her knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw salvation. Her dagger, still red with the blood of countless innocents. She picked up the dagger and pierced her heart, a smile on her lips.

_**Pridion Corp, Leon's Office…**_

The story was told, more or less the same, by Nik to his daughter and friend.

"Jeez, they sound psychotic." Kiyami said, shuddering.

"There. Done. You should be able to use that arm to its fullest in about a day." Leon said, snapping the bandages together with a special clip.

"Thanks. Would you two like to go to a movie? I haven't gone to one in quite some time." Nik said, getting up.

"I can't today. I'm sure Kiyami could go, though. Would you like to?" Leon asked.

"Definitely!" Kiyami shouted.

"The next showing of _SM3_ is on in about 5 minutes. Let's go." Nik said, putting a hand on Kiyami and sinking into the shadows.

_**Morty's Café, Jump City...**_

Sophie and Nigel were sitting at one of the back tables, which was reserved for heroes only. It was to ensure privacy, as it had a partition, and the Titans were glad for it, whenever they had an occasion to just rest a few minutes.

The, more or less, odd couple were sipping on their drinks, just glad to get out and relax a bit.

"I'll have to go in five minutes. Another Pride case, I think." Sophie said, looking at her watch.

"Well-" Nigel started, before a crash resounded throughout the front of the store.

What? You saw it coming, I know it.

"We're looking for the Titan, Scalpel. We know he knows where Pride is. Where is he?" Worc demanded, her dagger held out to her side.

"H-he-he's not here! Left five minutes ago!" an employee replied, scared for his life.

"You'd like us to think that, wouldn't you?" Crow chuckled walking up to the employee, "Problem is, we saw him walk in, and we haven't seen him walk out."

Crow snatched up the employee and shouted, "FIRE!"

The employee was incinerated, his ashes falling to the floor.

"Clean-up, behind the counter." Worc quipped, grinning maliciously, as she looked about.

A horde of bats flew out and began biting down into Crow and Worc, distracting them as Scalpel tore out from behind the partition and shot for Crow. He mentally scolded himself for forgetting his weapon, but what could he expect? He was going to be out for an hour, and he was in a hurry.

At least he always had one weapon.

His claws pierced Crow's torso. The offensive magician shouted in pain.

"WATER!"

Water burst into Scalpel, tearing him away from Crow. Crow then fired a lightning bolt through the bats, causing them to reassemble into Sophie, who was on the floor, seriously injured.

"Robin! The two threats are here! I repeat, the two threats are here! Hurry to Morty's Café!" Scalpel urged into the communicator, getting back up.

Crow was on him in a flash.

"Bind."

Scalpel couldn't move an inch, despite his attempted struggling. He growled in a feral manner as his eyes glowed in the eerie manner, more intensely than normal. Crow and Worc knelt beside him. Crow pulled out a revolver and handed it to Worc.

"Now, Scalpel, tell us. Where is Pride?" Crow asked, calmly.

"I don't know!" Scalpel shouted.

Worc shot him through the shoulder. Scalpel screamed in pain.

"Where is Pride?" Crow asked.

"I… don't know!" Scalpel repeated.

Worc shot him through his left shoulder. Scalpel screamed again.

"Now. Wanna' answer truthfully?" Crow asked, still calm.

"I HAVE!" Scalpel shouted in reply, still unmoving.

Worc aimed the gun at Sophie, grinning.

"NO!" Scalpel roared in protest, "Sophie! RUN!"

Sophie got up to her knees, then Worc shot her in the leg, putting her back on the floor with a scream of pain.

Raven and Savior appeared in the middle of the café a second later. With her signature cry, Raven put Worc up against a wall. Savior sent out a Shimmer strand towards Crow at a rapid-enough pace that it pierced his torso.

Crow smirked.

"Electricity."

A bolt of the said element shot out and poured into Savior. He was sent, with a jolt, into the wall. Raven turned towards Crow, but she was blasted into the opposite wall with a blast of dark energy.

Beastboy tore into the café as an eagle, then transformed into a Grizzly Bear.

"Fire."

Beastboy was then completely on fire. He fell to the floor, rolling.

"Warp."

Crow, Worc, Scalpel, and Sophie were now on a rooftop in some grimmer area of Jump City. Crow shot a bit of fire onto Scalpel.

"That's for lying to me. Now, tell me. Where. Is. PRIDE?" he demanded.

"Right here, fucktard." Manik growled, behind Crow.

As opposed to Pride, who is sometimes semi-draconic, Manik was fully a dragon. His black wings unfurled, casting a shadow on all four of the sentients on the building.

"I can't even go see a fucking MOVIE with my DAUGHTER for fuck's sake!" Manik roared, picking Worc up with his right claw and Crow up with his left.

Black energy, similar to both fire and electricity, poured from his maw like a fog that consumed Crow and Worc. The Blacktrinian couldn't hear them, but he was sure they were screaming. The air about him seemed changed with the Darkness. It was colder…

The Darkness cleared out, showing Crow and Worc, both near-death. Manik changed, becoming much less draconic.

"I killed you once, Crow. And, just like I promised, I'll do it again." Pride growled, holding up a ball of black energy.

Terra flew towards the Darkagon on a large rock, as per usual, with Cyborg and Gauntlet on it as well.

Pride was aware of them, but he didn't care. The ball formed into a spear, which he used to stab Crow through the cranium with, causing instant death. He whirled on Worc.

"You were worse than your father! I gave you a chance before, but not now!" Pride shouted, shooting the spear into her heart, killing her as well.

Then, something strange happened. Pride had calmed down his rage, allowing himself to completely become Nik again. However, Nik wasn't able to carry so much Evil Darkness at once without expulsion. He should have discharged some while still Pride, as he always obtained much of it as Manik.

He fell to his hands and knees, hacking and vomiting the black substance. The Evil Darkness oozed out from his skin as well. He felt cold… so cold… And he felt… so… tired…

Terra flew down to the roof. Scalpel climbed to his feet and picked up Sophie.

"I'll take her home, Scalpel. Don't worry." Terra said, causing the rock to expand enough to get Sophie onto the rock. It then morphed a bit to restrain Sophie and keep her from falling off.

"Thanks. Now, let's get the other... three...?" Scalpel said, noticing that Worc and Crow had disappeared.

"What the hell?" Cyborg asked.

"Well, we'll be seeing them again. It's the law of Bob and George. If you don't have a body, don't think they're dead. Here's a pamphlet on it." Gauntlet said, searching through his endless supply of pamphlets.

"C'mon, let's get our Lord-wannabee to the Tower." Cyborg said, stopping Gauntlet.

_**Titans Tower, Restraining Room…**_

Nik snapped up, or at least attempted to. He found himself restrained by several metal bars, along with a golden rope. He tried to use his shadow powers, but he instead received a low voltage jolt. It was low voltage, as I said, but it still hurt. A lot.

"DAMN!" Nik shouted.

Savior and Robin walked in the room, having been alerted by the computer that he was awake. Robin sat down in front of the Darkagon and crossed his arms.

"What the hell? I just removed two evil people, and I end up in bondage? Fuck you!" Pride snapped.

"Murder. Just like the other 34. However, you're not the typical murderer. You have powers beyond comprehension. Very advanced shadow manipulation. Possibly even more advanced than the Lord of the Night." Robin stated, coldly.

"Oh, fuck you! Those two were retaliation! They killed countless back on Eyarth. The others were crooks, without a hope. They wouldn't reform. Why let them go out and kill other people? _Fuck_ you!" Pride roared.

"You don't know a damn thing, Pride. You're just another goddamn crazed vigilante with abilities that made you believe you were more important than everyone else. You believed yourself a god. You believed you had the last say in anything and everything. They're evil and would never reform because you said so. You're right, as always. I deal with your goddamn kind every other week." Savior replied, in a quiet rage.

"Excuse me, Freud, but I don't think you know everything, Whiteman. I know everything about your little club. The Lord of the Night was an idiot. He actually believed that you could substitute ingredients for an ancient magic spell and get away with it. DON'T COMPARE ME TO HIM. Judge me how you will, I don't give a _shit_ about what you think. I have a job to do, and I will do it." Pride shouted.

"How do you know about the Lord of the Night's abilities? No one but Young Justice and ourselves saw him in action." Robin demanded.

"Lin-Fo, an immortal whose been around long enough to have invented many branches of magic." Pride responded automatically, unwillingly.

Now, he recognized the rope. It was Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth. The Titans usually snuck passed the Watchtower's security to get it, but this time they required it for interrogation of Pride.

"How much else do you know?" Savior asked, a brow raised.

"Everything from when you joined to when you dealt with Elijah, Christmas boy. That includes any secrets necessary for dealing with you to ensure you didn't get in my way. Which is how I know windows are your rival, Whiteman." Pride said with a smirk.

"Smartass." Savior said, crossing his arms.

"Do you know our identities?" Robin asked, now trying to find out if Pride was a security risk.

"Yes." Pride answered, again on autopilot.

"Shit!" Savior shouted.

"Do you know weaknesses to the team? Do you know how to access any electronically locked areas of the Tower, such as computers or safes?" Robin asked, continuing to figure out what all Pride knew.

"Yes. No." Pride said.

"Do you intend to use that information against us?" Savior asked.

"Only if you get in the way." Pride answered, hating that he could resist.

"Of what?" Savior continued.

"Killing Taokii." Manik said.

"Alright. We'll continue this tomorrow. We'll be getting your food in to you in a few minutes." Robin said.

"Don't bother. I don't need to eat or sleep." Nik said.

"Suit yourself." Robin said, walking out.

Nik and Manik began thinking of ways to get out of their current situation. They had all night, after all.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	8. B&W: Intruder Alert

_**Intruder Alert (Intruder Alert... SHUT UP!)**_

_**-Jim Carrey rules.**_

* * *

_**Unknown...**_

_Sir, Crow and Worc have been killed in action. What should we do?_

_I raised them once, did I not, Enbedex?_

_Yes sir..._

_Then I can do it again. And I'll lead the Titans away through Dr. Light. He's been given... inspiration for his machine. Achel._

_Ah... He was always good at that._

_  
Exactly. Now, you will go rally the Beasts. The time is coming. The War is almost here. Ensure that the Troops will be ready as well. _

_Yes sir!_

_**Titans Tower, Living Room...**_

With persuasion, Robin was able to keep the Lasso as long as necessary. However, he was wondering if that was a good idea. Nik was kept

"So, what was the most embarrassing thing you ever did?" Gauntlet asked.

"Attempting to kiss Karen when I was six." Nik replied.

"What's your favorite color?" Starfire asked.

"Yellow." Nik answered, grinding his teeth.

"Black Canary or Wonder Woman?" Beastboy asked.

"Not interested in a life partner or even a one-night stand." Nik answered.

"Why?" Beastboy asked.

"Because I have a job to do and attachments only weaken me." Nik said, glaring.

"Enough with the questions! Twenty others have been asked! Shut up!" Robin shouted.

"It's torture, Robin! Surely we can do that as some form of punishment other than locking him up here." Beastboy said.

"Fine. Just don't go overboard." Robin replied, calming down.

He then breathed deeply, got up, and walked up to his room.

"Now, whose your favorite out of us?" Beastboy asked.

"Cyborg and Gauntlet." Nik said.

"Woo hoo! The shadow guy likes me the best!" Gauntlet cried.

"Whaaaaat?" Beastboy asked, his jaw on the floor.

"Cyborg and Gauntlet. They passed the test." Nik continued.

"Yeah! I beat the window-hating stu!" Gauntlet shouted, pumping his fists in the air.

"Although I'm starting to think that was a fluke." Nik muttered, a vein visible on his forehead.

"What is your favorite food?" Starfire asked.

"Haven't taken a bite of anything in 12 years, Tinkerbelle." Nik answered, rolling his eyes.

"What would you rather be doing right now?" Cyborg asked.

"Maybe be at a movie with my daughter. Play a game with Leon." Nik counted off the top of his head.

"...daughter?" Gauntlet asked.

"I'll beat your face in if you try it." Nik said coolly, knowing what Gauntlet was thinking.

"Dang." Gauntlet said, his head down.

"Why do you call yourself Pride?" Starfire asked.

"To honor Karen and Leon Pridion." Nik answered, glaring furiously.

"What's your full name?" Beastboy asked.

"I don't actually know it, so I called myself Nik Gatrite." Nik answered.

"How come you randomly get two voices?" Gauntlet asked.

"The other voice is Manik. The Darkagon who semi-possesses me." Nik said, getting annoyed.

**Warning! Warning! Dr. Light attacking approximately one mile from here. Warning! Warning!**

"Only Dr. Light?" Cyborg asked.

The view screen turned on to reveal Dr. Light blasting everything in a small machine, which was more like a robotic-suit than anything else. Something was different about him, though. He had no pupils, just gray. He also didn't speak or make any noise whatsoever as he blasted various people. Which was definitely different from Arthur Light.

"That's new." Savior said, arching an eyebrow.

"Right. Cyborg and Gauntlet, you two stay here and watch Pride. Make sure he can't escape. Scalpel, stay in the infirmary. You're still too heavily injured to fight." Robin ordered, heading outside.

Gauntlet did a mock salute, while Cyborg activated the chair's cell function, also releasing sleeping gas into the cell chair, knocking out Pride.

_**Jump City, Site of Attack...**_

"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted the signature battle cry, immediately after getting to Dr. Light.

Savior leapt first, the Shimmer swarming out and shooting for Dr. Light. Light held up a hand, causing a massive shield to appear, blocking the attack with ease. He then forced the shield forward, knocking Savior back, into Beastboy. The two were sent rolling several yards.

In the meantime, Starfire fired off as many Starbolts as she could. Light smirked and held up his hand. The jewel on his palm glowed in unison with the one on his gauntlet. The Starbolts were drawn into it, being absorbed. He looked up at Starfire and blasted all the Starbolts, now Lightbolts, back at her. She dodged them with difficulty, but she still dodged them all.

Robin threw an electric explosive towards Light, who smirked again. A light tendril snapped out, grabbed the explosive, and tossed it at Terra, who was preparing to throw several rock daggers. Terra screamed for a split-second, then was blown away.

"There's no way that's Light! He's way too incompetent to have disabled a member at all, let alone this quick!" Beastboy said.

"Figured that out, didja?" Savior said.

"Who are you?" Robin asked, getting a few Birdarangs ready.

Dr. Light didn't answer, forming discs of energy on the backs of his hands. He charged for Robin, the discs spinning, ready to slice and dice. He suddenly spun, right before impact with the Boy Wonder, drawing a line of red across his chest. He leapt away from the not-so-good Doctor, throwing his Birdarangs straight for Dr. Light, who held up the discs, which incinerated the 'rangs on impact.

Raven picked up all nearby objects and tossed them at Dr. Light with her signature spell. Dr. Light noted the objects, then lashed out with light tendrils, causing them to reverse course. All the objects slammed into Raven at the same time. A few balls of light knocked her into a building, causing her to drift into darkness.

**_Unknown..._**

_Go! And do not fail me again!_

_**Titan's Tower...**_

Two figures appeared in the Titan's abode, looking for their mark, Pride. Crow and Worc were back, as it figures. They walked into the living room, having known where their target was. Crow whispered a spell, for a change, and threw a fire bolt into Gauntlet. Almost.

"Look, a nickel!" Gauntlet shouted, bending over to pick it up.

The fire went straight over him.

"Darn! It's just a fuzz ball!"

Cyborg noticed the fire bolt, however, with wide eyes. His right hand became the sonic cannon and he aimed in the direction of the fire ball. Crow walked in, hands up. Worc was currently behind him, her hands giving off a faint white light.

"Didn't Pride kill you?" Cyborg asked.

"Twice." Crow said, shrugging.

"Hey, where's the chick?" Gauntlet asked, the ring having transformed.

Worc growled low enough that only Crow heard her, but said nothing.

"Still dead." Crow said, shrugging again. He walked closer to Pride, his hands starting to glow black.

"Stop moving or I'll shoot." Cyborg said, the sonic cannon activating, prepared to fire.

"Go ahead." Crow said, ignoring him.

"I wouldn't fire that if I were you. You'll only hurt yourself." Crow warned, smugly.

"Doubt that." Cyborg replied, firing.

The blast slammed into Cyborg from behind. When it was within an inch of Crow, it hit a white wall, then disappeared and reappeared behind Cyborg. Thus, the result of Cyborg

Gauntlet formed a sword of yellow energy and suddenly looked serious. We all know that, being Gauntlet, it can't be sincere.

"For Frodo!" he shouted, getting a goofy grin again as he charged for Crow and Worc.

Crow threw a black bolt at Gauntlet, who sliced the bolt with his sword. Crow raised a mask brow, than formed a black sword and sliced at Gauntlet, who deflected the blow, then sliced Crow across the torso.

"Hah! My Schwarz is bigger than your Schwarz!" Gauntlet laughed, parrying another blow from Crow.

"Why are you in charge of guarding Pride? You're an idiot." Crow asked, curiously.

"You smell funny. Probably because you died. Twice." Gauntlet retorted, continuing to block and attack.

Crow then fired off a lightning bolt into Gauntlet, who backed up several steps, with hair sticking up and a sooty face.

"Maybe this is how Savior's hair sticks up. He stuck his finger in a light socket as a child." Gauntlet said, coughing.

Crow sighed, shaking his head. He then threw a rock spear. Gauntlet formed a shield that shattered the rock on impact.

"Damnation your annoying. How has Pride not killed you yet?" Crow demanded.

"How has he killed you twice?" Gauntlet replied.

"Because he's a cheating bastard!" Worc shouted, putting up a shield around her father.

"Doubt that." Cyborg said, firing off a sonic blast.

The shield shattered and Cyborg shot off another blast into Worc. Gauntlet slammed Crow in his side using a baseball bat with a nail stuck through it made of his namesake's signature yellow energy. Crow sailed through the air into Pride's cell chair. The cage was rattled, waking up Pride from his drug-induced sleep.

"Why don't you ever die?" Pride asked.

"Do you know how many times I've said that about you?" Crow snapped.

With that, he pumped Gauntlet with electricity, raising him in the air. Gauntlet shouted in pain, trying to focus on his namesake to get in a shot.

Cyborg was busy fighting Worc. He was too slow to actually land a blow, more often than not, and her blows were starting to add up, slowly. He threw one punch that nearly hit her, but she ducked, then came up with a knife. His eyes widened as she stabbed him in the chest, piercing vital circuitry. She smiled when he stepped back after she let go.

"How did…?" Cyborg started.

"-I not get shocked? Rubber on the handle. Took the design from Pride's sidekick, Bayonette, and modified it a touch. Now, die." Worc replied, getting a running start.

She leapt into the air, put her left foot forward, pressed on the edge of the dagger, and kicked off with all her strength. The dagger pierced all the way through Victor Stone, partially coming out of his back.

"That may have hur-hur-hurt pre-pretty da-da-da-da-damn bad, bu-bu-bu-but I'll still f-f-f-f-fight!" Cyborg declared holding up both sonic cannons, aimed for Worc.

"Oh snap." She said, smiling.

Cyborg blasted, full-force, at the psychotic white mage, only to be surprised as it came back for him. She had put up another shield that rerouted the attack to target him. He leapt out of the way as the sonic cannon created another door to the outside of the Tower.

_**Jump City, Site of Attack...**_

Savior sent Shimmer strands through all of his fingers, wrapped them around Dr. Light, and attempted to toss him. He was confused to see that Dr. Light was still attached to the strands, still on the ground, and was even more so confused when the Shimmer turned invisible.

Robin threw the last of his Birdarangs at Dr. Light, aimed perfectly. However, he jerked backward, putting the invisible Shimmer in the way. Savior tried to retract them, eyes wide, but was ill prepared and it was too late. The Birdarangs sliced through every Shimmer strand Savior had out.

He cried in pain as his nervous system was set on fire, as (for you Non-Legendversers) the Shimmer was linked especially to the nervous system, through white paint and odd chemicals. Dr. Light took the chance as threw a small black ball into Savior's gut.

Savior fell over, robbed of breath, then held the ball up. And gasped, trying to throw away the ball, but found it stuck, somehow.

The Hornet's Nest exploded, sending out smaller metal balls out at an incredibly fast speed. Several dug into his skin, while others scraped him, drawing blood. Other still slammed into his body armor, still sending pain through Savior's torso.

Savior screamed in pain, falling over. Dr. Light threw a ball of energy that did enough damage to his head to knock him out.

Robin stared in horror at Dr. Light. Something was definitely wrong here. Dr. Light never used weapons except for his photokinetic suit and that light ray powered by Kole, but that was once. Beastboy charged as a rhino, his horn ever ready to stab through his enemy.

Dr. Light smirked that horrible smirk.

"Beastboy! DON'T!" Robin shouted, knowing what was about to happen.

Too late.

Dr. Light threw out several daggers made of energy, all of them digging into one of Beastboy's limbs. He was brought to his knees. The photokinetic then threw out ropes of the same energy, connecting with the daggers. With the light tendrils connected to Beastboy, he threw him up in the air, same as Terra.

While he was busy with that, he wasn't able to defend himself from several electrical bombs that Robin threw. The electricity shot through the suit, overloading the gauntlet's causing them to explode. He cried in pain, his hands steaming. Robin used those seconds of hesitation to slam into him, then delivered him a blow to the head with his bo-staff.

"Who are you and what have you done with Arthur Light?" Robin demanded.

Silence was the villain's answer. That, and a blast of light energy. Robin was sent skidding across the pavement. He looked at the road, then looked to the right. His jaw dropped.

A car barreled for Dr. Light, the driver knowing what he was doing. Dr. Light leapt into the air, a lot higher than he should have been able. The driver cursed as he drove on.

Dr. Light landed again, his boots taking the shock. Robin had gotten up by then and was waiting. He slammed the bo-staff into the back of Dr. Light's left knee, causing him to fall on it, kneeling. He then swung around and thwacked Dr. Light across the face, blood spraying from his nose as he fell on his back. Robin then hit him again, this time on the torso, hearing a crack and a moan.

Dr. Light fell into unconsciousness, and Robin watched as black smoke poured off of him. He took several steps back as it took a basic corporeal form, no indistinguishable features at all, and sank through it's own shadow. It hissed at Robin.

_Good job, human._

The words were put in his head, as if telepathically. It disappeared before he could try to react.

_**Titan's Tower…**_

With Cyborg down, Gauntlet knew he'd need help, being electrocuted and all. He aimed for Pride's cage and the yellow energy shot out in a beam form, blasting the panel, ridding Pride of all restraints.

Gauntlet knew this was a gamble. Pride was a murderer. He may not help him, and Gauntlet may be screwed over even worse. However, he had to risk it.

It was a wise move.

Pride blasted Crow with obsidian energy, allowing Gauntlet to drop down.

"Well, Riku, got a potion, cause I'm about to get a game over screen." He quipped.

Pride glanced at him, a brow raised.

"Guess you never played Kingdom Hearts 2…" Gauntlet muttered, looking around for Worc.

He found her walking over to the fallen Cyborg. She kicked him over and pulled the dagger out from his back, blade-first. Gauntlet "yeesh"ed and formed a golf club.

"PSYCHO!" he shouted, instead of the usual "FOUR!" cliché.

He bashed Worc with the golf club, sending her into the wall, first class. Crow shot a fireball at him, hitting him in the seat of his pants. Smoke went up around.

"I HATE THIS JOKE!" Gauntlet shouted, running fast enough for his legs to seem like a blur.

Pride sighed at the ridiculousness of it all. He held up his left hand to the side, aimed at Crow. Crow's shadow came up to life and celebrated its birth with a slug to Crow's face. Crow's Shadow continued to beat him mercilessly. Finally, Crow exploded with black energy.

"ENOUGH!" he cried.

His shadow returned to its proper place, as if nothing had happened. Crow then whirled to face Pride, ready to fire off another spell. Worc came up to her father's side and prepared to heal them both.

"Hell no." Pride said, knowing what was about to happen.

He caused his own shadow to disappear, becoming energy that lanced through Worc, but not in time to stop her. The white magic fell over Crow, completely re-energizing him. Gauntlet ran passed Pride, his pants still on fire. Pride grabbed him by the shoulder, enveloped his pants with shadows long enough for the fire to die out, then took away the shadows.

He hissed in a language we're familiar with. The words appeared in Gauntlet's head, a plan. He nodded and used the artifact's energy to swing from the ceiling into Crow's shoulder, shattering the shoulder pad that had the shape of a crocodile's head. The small jewels that made its eyes flew through the air. Gauntlet grabbed them both and tossed them to Pride.

"Small jewels? They have a pill for that." Gauntlet quipped, swinging, feet-first into Crow's back, sending him to his face.

Crow shouted in pain, as Pride enveloped the jewels in shadows, and they began circling him.

"Gauntlet, get Cyborg to the infirmary. I'll finish this." Pride ordered.

"Remember. Make sure you have a body!" Gauntlet said, carrying Cyborg via the yellow energy from his namesake.

Pride smirked a smirk similar to that of the possessed Dr. Light.

Crow's eyes went wide when got partially up. He fell back on his rear and began shuffling away, desperate. He tried to do magic, but he couldn't, without the Gaia Orbs, created by the person who resurrected him, which was in Pride's possession.

Pride waved his finger in "no no" way. Wind blew from the jewels, pinning Crow to the wall. Fire poured out as well, burning him seriously. Water drenched him, then lightning swarmed him, incinerating him. The jewels, spent of their magic, were reduced to dust.

The self-proclaimed King of Darkness fell to his knees.

"Damn I hate magic." He muttered, exhausted.

He tried to get up, but he was far too weak. His vision would have swam, then turned to black, if he had his eyesight.

A few hours later, Robin walked in, the other Titans with him. All were weakened, but had recovered for the most part and would be fully refreshed with a good night's sleep.

"What the hell happened here?" Savior demanded of Gauntlet, who was on the couch, watching TV.

"Crow and Worc attacked. I was the only one conscious after the fight. I beat the other stu!" Gauntlet replied, cackling madly.

"I don't care anymore. So many other villains have come back to life, it's not even a new occurrence for one to come back. Pride killed them again, probably." Robin said, exasperated.

"Of course. It's a hobby of his. Like stamp collecting, only it could end up with him in a concrete room married to a guy named Bubba. If he didn't have the whole 'shadowy-manipulaty' thing going for him." Gauntlet said.

"He's back in the cell?" Robin asked.

"Yeah… I heaved him back into the thing and Cyborg fixed it, so he's back in there. The lasso had also come untied, so we put that back on him. He's still out cold, despite Cyborg cursing loudly when I accidentally drilled his arm." Gauntlet answered, showing his bandaged hand.

Savior shook his head, as he walked off. Most of the Titans went to their rooms, but a few just lounged about the living room. Robin, however, walked up to Pride's cell.

"You'll be joining the Titans. Here's your communicator." He ordered, holding the communicator out to Pride.

"No thanks. You people are pathetic." Nik said, snorting.

"That wasn't a statement. That was an order. I've already implanted a device in your body. If you turn against us, refuse to follow an order, or otherwise make trouble, it will shock you. If you attempt to reach it with your powers, it will shock you until it's no longer touched or it reaches air, upon which it will explode, killing you. It will also monitor the team's life signs. If any of us die, you'll have 10 minutes to get to the remote, which will deactivate the device, otherwise you'll die as well. Only Savior, Cyborg, and I can deactivate the remote through vocal means via our communicators. You don't have a choice." Robin said.

"Damn you." Nik said, relenting.

"So, you were saying?" Robin asked.

Nik took the communicator.

"I'll find a way to get out of here and get rid of the device. It's only a matter of time." Nik growled.

"Doubt that." Robin said, walking off.

**BADUM! BADUM! BADUM!**


	9. Reign: Calm

_**Calm

* * *

**_

_**It's funny imagining a high level Darkness Manipulator being forced to do chores. By the way, he's had areas marked off for him, just so you know how he can do chores, what with his blindness and whatnot. **_

**_Oh, and if anyone needs to know (because undoubtedly, no one knows about it) when it switches between Nik, Manik, and Pride, there's a reason. He's switching personalities, sorta'. Nik is the host. Manik is the Darkagon. Pride is when it's both of them. _**

_**Hey, Chal, is the ending thingy better than the BADUM BADUM BADUM? If not, I'd like a suggestion.**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Titan's Tower...**_

Nik was sweeping about the Tower, while Robin supervised, smirking. He swept it up into a pile and threw it into the trash. The other Titans were out, patrolling the city, more or less.

"Am I done now?" Nik asked, crossing his arms.

"Is that attitude?" Robin asked, a finger on the button.

_"Robin. This is J'onn. I have received a indecipherable message. We believe it may have connections to the Shadow Manipulator you have in custody." _J'onn said, having activated the communications screen.

"Play the recording. Nik, listen and translate it." Robin ordered.

A hissing sound was played, causing Nik's attention to snap towards it. He focused on it. When it stopped, he translated.

"Ye be warned, heroes. Roars shall be heard as blood will be spilled. Fires shall consume as lives will be spent. I shall make the world a dragon's den. Void of hope. Void of life. Surrender now and end your strife."

"Is that all?" Robin asked.

"Yes." Nik answered.

"Do you know who sent the message?" Robin asked.

"It came from a black entity." J'onn said.

"A Shadow Walker. That much is obvious." Nik said.

"Shadow Walkers?" Robin asked, a brow raised at the term.

"Yes. A race of creatures similar to myself. However, their shadow manipulation is limited. The top percent of the top percent perhaps could present a challenge to me in a shadow battle. If two or three teamed up." Pride answered.

"Now I know where you actually get your name." Robin muttered.

"The invasion must be handled efficiently. I will warn the rest of the Justice League, along with the other superheroes. Good luck." J'onn said, cutting off the communication.

"Now that I don't have to worry about blowing up in front of J'onn, I have a question. What did the rest of the message say?" Robin asked.

"Beg pardon?" Pride asked.

"What did the rest of the message say?" Robin asked again.

"There was no 'rest of the message'." Pride said, looking confused.

"I saw through your lie. There was something else as a part of the message. What was it?" Robin continued, determined.

"There. Was. Nothing. Else." Pride said.

Pride received a low voltage shock. Robin held up the remote.

"Quit lying, Pride. I received some message similar to it from the Shadow Walker that possessed Dr. Light. I know that the message you relayed is a few seconds shorter than the message not translated. The hissing lasts as long as it would to actually say something in the language of the audience your speaking to. Now, what was it?" Robin said, his finger on the button.

"What more do you need to know? An invasion is coming. The rest of the message was information only I need." Pride replied, regaining his posture.

Robin pressed the button again. "Damn it, Pride. I can't take your word on it. That information could be life or death. I don't have the Lasso here any more, and it would take too long to get it. So, just tell me, what else did the Shadow Walker say?"

"'He wants a rematch' is what the rest of the message said." Pride replied, attempting to shake off the rest of the shock.

Robin folded the remote control and put it back in his utility belt, for later use.

"Who is 'he'?" Robin asked, calmly.

"The one I have to kill. Taokii. Imperknight. My rival since we were created." Pride said, leaning the broom against the wall.

"Care to elaborate?" Robin asked.

"It doesn't frog king matter, but hey, whatever. I was created by some benevolent guy called Ben. Taokii was created by some malevolent guy named Mal. Taokii was created to put worlds into Darkness, allowing Mal to rule them. I was created so he couldn't do that. That's really all I care to know. There might be a deeper reason, but I never cared. Ever. And I won't care ever. I know I have to kill Taokii, he knows he has to kill me. We're fine that way. It's our business, whether we're in the Bob and George dimension or all the way in the Riddick dimension. Not the inhabitants. Their interference can not be tolerated. Which is why I will probably end up having to kill you and your team if you keep this shit up." Pride explained.

"You're not the only whose apathetic. You're staying here. If I need any information, I'll ask you. If you're cooperative, I'll let you have your own room in the Tower, and I'll occasionally turn off the remote. Deal?" Robin asked.

"If it means a chance to see my daughter... deal." Pride replied.

"Alright. Now, I'll get up the scanners. You, get in the cage. No offense, but I'd rather be safe enough to make sure I know where you are. First question, what would be the smartest thing to scan for in order to pick up as many as possible?" Robin asked, heading for the computer.

"Shadow energies. Draconic energies." Pride answered, shutting the door on the cage as he sat down.

"Dracon- Dragons? You said the invaders were Shadow Walkers. What's this about Dragons?" Robin demanded.

"It's always been like this. Anytime Taokii managed to find the Shadow Walker planet, whatever the hell it was called, he always held a two-part invasion. According to Manik, he's done it 172 times. The first part involves about six or seven leader Dragons, each with a few thousand Dragons behind them as their army. He hides the leaders in the cave and has the soldiers come in through space. I'd bet he already has the leaders here, in seven different places beneath the ground. They'll soon come up and wreak havoc. I always laugh when the Hydra comes up. Since it has 12 heads, they always snap at each other as they break through the ground." Pride answered.

Robin raised a brow, shook his head, then entered in what to look for, almost snickering at the idea of Pride laughing. The scanner showed up on the view screen, sweeping the earth.

"So far, nothing. I'll have the others on alert." Robin said, activating his communicator to update everyone on the Draconic invasion.

"Hey does this thing double as a cell phone?" Nik asked, holding up the communicator.

"Cyborg added that feature to them all a year ago, yes. Why?" Robin asked, looking for the Titan's signals.

"I'd like to call Kiyami and tell her where I'm at." Nik said, activating the telephone function of the communicator.

"Team. Listen up. This is serious, Gauntlet, so knock it off. Earth is about to see some Mythologicals. Specifically, Dragons. According to the transmission and Pride, there is going to be a two-part invasion. The first part is Dragons. I don't know about the second part yet." Robin said, looking at Pride.

"Yeah, hey Kiyami. Missed you. Sorry about ditching you at the movies... After we take care of a problem, I'll get out of here on occasion. First thing I'll do is go to you, okay?" Nik said.

_"Robin, do you think we can trust Pride on that?" _Savior asked.

"I made a deal with him. He wouldn't be so stupid as to break it." Robin said.

_"I don't think it'd be out of stupidity."_ Savior replied.

"He's in the cage. It's locked again, preventing his powers from working. If that didn't work, I can still activate the lightning ball. I can see why you're concerned, but quit. We have potentially seven Omega threats coming up, along with armies of most-likely Beta threats coming. Now, shut up and activate the feed from the Titan's Computer. It'll show you the scans. All of you, head for the closest Dragon as soon as one appears. Got that?" Robin ordered.

"_Where will you be, Robin?"_ Starfire asked.

"I'm going to have to stay here. Pride can't give orders, as he has no authority, being a criminal. I'll have to inform other heroes about the invasion as soon as possible. I'm just about to call J'onn and inform him about the invasion. He can help me coordinate the heroes for efficiency to reduce casualties to a minimum, zero if at all possible. Now, you have your orders. Titans, GO!" Robin commanded.

"Alright, Kiyami. Tell ya' what. After we go to the movies, we'll go to your favorite restaurant. Yeah, you heard me... Okay, bye. I love you." Nik said.

Robin stared.

"What?" Nik asked.

"You do not look like the person who'd ever string the words 'I', 'love', and 'you' together." Robin replied.

"Hey, being a father comes a bit more naturally since Logan." Nik said, shrugging.

"I'll ask about that later. First, I have to know this. What was your daughter's reaction to you appearing?" Robin asked.

"She took it like she knew it'd happen. I asked about that later. She and Leon told me something about a voice in their head telling them it made perfect sense, which explains a lot. Probably Ben." Nik said, rolling his eyes.

Robin was somewhat confused, but decided it made about as much sense as a device that grants hero powers, so who cares? He called the Watchtower on the Titan Computer.

"You have discovered new information?" J'onn asked.

"Dragons, J'onn. There will be two parts to this invasion. We're going to have to take care of six to seven Omega level Dragons, along with an army of lesser Dragons, most likely Beta levels. I'd suggest we get all the Omega level heroes to go after the armies, because there's a lot more to deal with. I'll have my team go after the closet leader, as Pride calls them. I'll also get Titans East to go after the second closest leader. I'd appreciate it if you'd pull together a few other teams of heroes to go after the others." Robin said.

"You'll need six teams, total." Pride said.

"Okay, form four more teams, if you could... How do you know it's six?" Robin asked.

"Because I can detect six large sources of shadow sources. They just now appeared." Pride said.

"Damn! We're still not fully coordinated! What about the armies?" Robin asked.

"They're still in space, heading for us, no doubt. I can't detect them on Earth, so they're not within the atmosphere yet. Since the leaders are here, though, the armies will be here in four hours, as usual, according to Manik. The leaders will burst in about three hours." Pride said.

"172 times makes you memorize the strategy, I'd assume." Robin muttered.

"I shall gather up four more teams of heroes. I shall also try to contact a few villains to see if they would ally themselves with us, if only to save themselves." J'onn answered.

"Okay then. We should be coordinated in time, with our three hour time limit. I'm sending you the positions of the other four leaders. Titans West will take care of the Dragon in the caves nearby. Titans East will go after the one in Toronto. Keep this line open for any additional information I can get from Pride." Robin said.

"I will do so, Robin." J'onn said, contacting other heroes.

"Robin, I'd suggest you send some team members with Titans East. They're going after Three-Star, the Wyvern. That Dragon can kick some ass. Manik had trouble with him last time." Pride said.

"Whose in the caves near us?" Robin asked.

"The Mexican Amphithere, Bomber. He's not a huge threat. I'd be willing to bet that Cyborg, Gauntlet, Tinkerbelle, Scalpel, and the one-kid zoo could take him out. However, you're gonna' need more than three members to go after Three-Star." Pride said.

"There's four." Robin corrected.

"Mas y Menos counts as one. They have to be together or they're dead weight. Send Whiteman and Blackbird with 'em." Pride pointed out.

"Alright. I'll give the order. And knock it off with the names." Robin said.

"It looks to be like your invasion is going to fail for the 75th time, Taokii." Pride muttered, smirking.

_**Unknown...**_

_Is that so, Draak Rei?_

**REIGN**


	10. Reign: Brewing

_**Brewing

* * *

**_

_**Sorry about Pride's Stu-ishness and the whole THE STORY IS ABOUT TEH AWSUM PRIDE thing that went on. However, yeah, he won't be appearing in another story of the Legendverse variety, so I had to give him an arc. I'll try as hard as I can to dumb down his stu-ishness. Please tell me if I'm succeeding or failing.

* * *

**_

_**Underground Area, Somewhere in Florida...

* * *

**_

The Titans had found the Dragon energy surprisingly close. It was in a series of underground caves close to where their base was. Robin had already given the order for Cyborg and Gauntlet to go with Titans East, so their numbers were lower.

"I do not like this. Dragons are considered powerful beasts of horrifying abilities on Tamaran." Starfire said, providing a light for the tunnel.

"Tamaran has legends about Dragons?" Savior asked, walking in-between her and Raven.

"Well, of beasts similar to Dragons in your Earth culture. They are more like a feline than most of your Dragons are." Starfire answered.

"Dudes, hold up. I hear something down that way." Beastboy said.

"Change into an animal and try to pick up a scent." Noel ordered.

Beastboy transformed into a bloodhound and sniffed as deep as possible.

"Well, other than something close to five pounds of hair gel, I can smell something bizarre down that same way." Beastboy reported.

Savior raised a brow at the comment but chose not to reply. There were more important things to do than crack down on jokers. Beastboy continued down the way, following the scent, Starfire still lighting the way. Savior pulled out his communicator and activated it.

"Robin. Savior here. We're currently heading for the Dragon's den. Beastboy has picked up a scent and is hot on the trail. We'll take it out soon."

_"You should show more respect for Dragons, White-" Pride started._

_"Shut UP, Pride! Okay, Savior, your report has been taken into account. Titans East is heading for Toronto, while Cyborg and Gauntlet are a few minutes behind them." Robin reported._

"You never explained why Cyborg and Gauntlet had to go with Titans East." Savior stated, an understood question in the sentence.

_"Pride suggested they go with them because East is heading for a Dragon a lot tougher than the one your facing. They'll need more members." Robin answered._

"Why are you doing what Pride says? He could easily be lying." Savior said.

_"Taokii is the one leading the invasion. I doubt Pride wants Taokii to win. They hate each other." Robin said._

Beastboy turned to the others and hushed them.

"Beastboy has found the Dragon's den. We're going in to attack now." Savior said, shutting off his communicator.

* * *

_**Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

"Robin, something's wrong. Taokii switched the Dragons a few seconds ago. They're going in after the Wyvern. Not the Amphithere. This is NOT GOOD." Pride said.

"How bad can it be?" Robin asked.

"That Wyvern is a lot more powerful than the Amphithere. I'm not sure they'll survive." Pride said.

"What can we do?" Robin asked, turning to Pride.

"I... wait. There's a few others behind the Titans. They're in the caverns now. Holy _crap_." Pride started, laughing.

* * *

_**Den of the Wyvern...

* * *

**_

Beastboy looked around the corner first, then immediately shrank back and turned to the others.

"That is not a Mexican Amphithere. THAT is a Wyvern." Beastboy said, his eyes as big as dinner plates.

"Pride lied. Damn it. We'll still have to go in there. We have about 2 hours before the invasion actually starts. Was the Wyvern awake?" Savior asked.

"No. But I'll bet it's about to wake up." Beastboy said.

"Why do you say that?" Starfire asked.

"Because its heart beat is increasing and it's shuffling about the cave." Scalpel answered for Beastboy.

"Yeah, that." Beastboy said, changing back into his normal form from the bloodhound.

"Okay, let's get together our strategy." Savior said.

* * *

_**Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

"Robin, this is J'onn. I have sent out the teams. Deathstroke is leading 3 others after one of the Leaders, somewhere in South America. Flash and Kid Flash are going after the Dragon in Europe. Wonder Woman is headed for the second one in Europe. Viridian and Metatron are after one in Africa." J'onn reported.

"Taokii switched up one of the Dragons-" Robin started.

"And ADDED ANOTHER ONE. One I haven't even SEEN BEFORE." Pride interrupted.

"The Titans West are going after the Wyvern, unfortunately. They're getting help from an unidentified source which will remain unidentified because Pride refuses to say. They're still getting help, so that doesn't matter right now. Back to business. There's another Dragon leader in Africa. Southern Africa, rather than Northern. Could you pull together a few fighters to knock it out?" Robin asked.

"I will try." J'onn said, turning off the view screen.

"Now, for the thirtieth time, who entered the caverns after my team members? Because if they do more harm than good, I'm holding you responsible." Robin demanded.

"Oh, they'll help. Bullets are very effective against Dragons. Especially at point blank range." Pride snickered.

* * *

_**Den of the Wyvern...

* * *

**_

Scalpel was listening for the Wyvern, to learn when to strike. Its heart rate slowed down again, along with its respiration. One thing was for certain: it was a far cry from being fully alert.

"We've gone over the strategy several times. Remember, stay quiet until the signal is given." Savior whispered/ordered, creeping about the cavern wall, heading for the Wyvern, followed by the others.

Savior crept in front of the Wyvern, posed for battle, several Shimmer strands slowly emerging from his arms, each aimed for the Wyvern.

Starfire flew up above the Wyvern, her hands and eyes giving off her signature green glow.

Raven's hands put off an obsidian energy that reached out and grabbed several stalactites above the Wyvern, but didn't snap them. Not yet.

Scalpel was next to the Wyvern's shoulder blade, his glaive poised to stab into it.

Beastboy was behind Savior, focusing on the Wyvern.

* * *

_**Titan's Tower…

* * *

**_

"Robin, I have sent Bushido, Argent, and four members of the Gun Gang after the South African Dragon. The rest of the Justice League is scanning the skies, waiting for the invasion. Citizens have all been told to stay inside their homes or work places, wherever they are… The Watchtower has detected the Dragons. They will arrive on Earth in approximately 37 minutes. I shall activate the Watchtower's laser cannon. With luck, that should take out a few dozen Dragons before they can reach Earth." J'onn reported.

"Good. To my knowledge, the teams have all been synced perfectly. They should be fighting now. I can only hope they're doing all right." Robin said.

"Only one of the Dragon's energy signals is erratic. Titans East and the other two are engaging the Amphithere." Pride reported.

Robin looked grimly out the window as the sun went done. J'onn had minimized the line. Night was falling…

"Do the Dragons have shadow manipulation abilities?" Robin suddenly demanded, whirling on Pride.

"No. Nothing like mine, in any case. They do, however, get stronger at night. I know, Robin. Night is falling. That's Taokii's plan. Send the army when it's strongest and the heroes are quicker to exhaustion. It's always been his plan. If the heroes are too exhausted by the time the Dragons are at their weakest, what does it matter? They're dead already. Simple as that. But hey, you have Superman. Last time Manik was alongside him, he fought through the entire night and never exhausted. This universe has at least three Kryptonians, each capable of wiping out several hundred of the Dragons." Pride said.

"Several hundred Beta Levels?" Robin asked, wary.

"What, isn't Beta above Epsilon? I was never good with the system." Pride shrugged.

"Several hundred Gammas sounds right. I'll relay the information to J'onn. How do you screw up that much?" Robin asked.

"I never bothered to learn Greek. So sue me." Pride replied, shrugging again.

Robin sighed and pulled up the link to the Watchtower.

* * *

_**Toronto, Underground Caverns…

* * *

**_

"Hey, where's Aqualad?" Cyborg asked.

"He's pretty much useless for this mission. We have him stationed at East Tower, where he can take down information for us." Speedy replied, an arrow strung on his bow.

"I didn't even know Toronto had underground caves." Bee said.

"It's a plot-related thing, so there has to be. Here's a pamphlet on it. Oh, and here's one about how Asta thinks I should sweep Raven off her feet." Gauntlet said, pulling out two pamphlets, one of them obviously poorly hand-drawn.

_**I DO NOT.**_

"What are you talking about, it's all right-" Gauntlet began, before being interrupted.

_**SHUT UP, GAUNTLET.**_

"But, what about the-" Gauntlet started again, holding up the pamphlet, which was reduced to ashes.

_**I'M GONNA' HAVE TO HURT YA'.**_

"Awwwwwww. I worked for hours on that." Gauntlet moaned.

_**WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK WITH THESE CONDITIONS? SCREW IT. I'M GOING TO MY NON-EXISTENT TRAILER. YOU'LL HEAR FROM MY AGENT (i.e. ME) IN A WEEK…**_

"Wow. You found the Dragon by breaking the Fourth Wall. Repeatedly." Bee said.

"Bah. It's not as good as killing an army of bots with a Mentos commercial." Cyborg said, waving it off.

_**DAMMIT! WELL… THE DRAGON'S AN AMPHITHERE AND IS UP ALREADY. HAH! THERE GOES ANY ADVANTAGE YOU HAD! … WAITAMINUTE! GACK! ARGH!**_

The caverns rumbled as feathery wings lifted one ton of muscle, tooth, and claw off the ground. The rocks tumbled and shook as a mighty roar boomed from the Amphithere.

"Oh shit." Cyborg said.

"Weren't we supposed to fight something less birdy and more scaly?" Gauntlet whispered.

"Maybe you did something to… anger God?" Cyborg suggested.

"Well, by technicality I did, I suppose. I mean, Asta's the god of this story." Gauntlet shrugged.

"Guys, if you don't mind, we have the child of a lizard who got too friendly with a bird to deal with here." Speedy said, pulling back an arrow, aiming for the gullet of the Amphithere.

Cyborg held both Sonic Cannons up high, aimed for the feathery dragon. Bee zipped towards the Amphithere at Bumblebee size, to avoid detection.

Mas y Menos sped up the cavern wall and shot off, slamming into the Amphithere as it flew for Speedy. It roared again and snatched Menos with one of its claws, smacking Mas with his tail.

Speedy shot several explosive arrows for the Amphithere. A second before they hit, Cyborg fired off several sonic blasts that produced a similar effect to the Sonic Boom Maneuver he and Robin had planned out. The Amphithere flew back a bit, reeling from the explosions. It then spread its wings to the max, flew as high as possible, aimed for the group, and shot down for them, blasting fire as it flew through.

Bee was sent flying to the ground, coughing and covered with soot and a partially burned suit. Against all odds, there was no fan service. Yeah, I know: shock, awe, and disappointment. Get over yourself.

"What'd you try to do?" Speedy asked, stringing a silver arrow.

"Tried to COUGH kill it from the HACK inside." Bumblebee answered.

She got up to her feet and dusted herself off. Gauntlet looked over at her, then looked back at the Amphithere, disappointed. His namesake shot a line of yellow energy that hooked the Amphithere.

Lesson time kiddies! A ton of muscles mass, flying through the air at over 40 miles an hour is snatched by a teen whose probably only 150 pounds wet. What will happen? Is it A) the dragon will stop, B) the teen will go flying, or C) the dragon's neck will snap?

If you answered A or C, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

Gauntlet was sent soaring through the cave, the energy dissipated, and he slammed into the cave wall.

"OWIE!"

Speedy let the silver arrow fly, piercing one of the scales of the Amphithere. It hardly noticed. Speedy began stringing another one, hoping the Amphithere wouldn't take interest in him.

Cyborg had climbed up a stalactite and locked onto the Dragon. It was headed towards him, after Gauntlet screamed. He let go of the rock formation and fell onto the Amphithere's back, getting an annoyed roar from the Dragon. He reared back his left hand, traded out the hand for a sharp implement, and stabbed into the Amphithere's spinal cord area.

It screeched in pain and anger at having scales and flesh pierced. Cyborg kept his left hand in the body of the best, transformed the hand into a sonic cannon, and blasted the Amphithere internally. It screeched again and fell to the cavern floor, getting pierced in several places by stalagmites.

It gave a piteous moan, trying to raise its head one last time. It barely managed the feat, but it did manage to look into Gauntlet's eyes.

"DOINK!" Gauntlet shouted, forming a hand with the index finger pointing out of yellow energy and poking the Dragon in the eye.

The Dragon roared in pain again, and it finally fell over it, dead.

Mas y Menos raced back to the group, speaking rapidly in Spanish. As the author of this story doesn't KNOW Spanish, no quotes for you!

"Cyborg here. The Amphithere is down and out. Although we should have fought the Wyvern, but it doesn't matter. A Dragon is dead. How are the others doing?" Cyborg reported.

"_Savior and the others are preparing to attack, last I heard. That was five minutes ago. Pride reported another Dragon of a type he hadn't heard of before. It should be taken care of, though. Pride said not to worry about Savior and the others, as they'll be getting help. No details as of yet on that because Pride's an ASSHOLE. Tell Titans East to get back to their Tower, where they can receive more information faster. You and Gauntlet report back here." Robin answered._

"Alright then! Come on, Gauntlet! We're going back to base." Cyborg said, waving for Gauntlet to come.

"What about my team?" Bee asked.

"Get back to your Tower, like Robin said. We'll keep you posted there, alright?" Cyborg asked.

Bee nodded and flew out of the caverns, followed by the rest of Titans East.

**REIGN**


	11. Reign: Strike Twice

**_Strike Thrice

* * *

_**

_**Insert the disclaimer I probably should've put in this story at the beginning about how I don't own Teen Titans, that Savior belongs to LegendMaker, Gauntlet belongs to Bobcat, Scalpel & Sophie belong to Jedi-And, and that I own Pride and characters close to those mentioned characters are owned by their respective authors. 'Cept Kiyami. She's half mine, half Pickles12's. Make fun of the name and I'll kill you til you die.

* * *

**_

_**Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

"Okay, J'onn. The Titans West have attacked the Wyvern. Their comm's been cut off. When they report, I'll report. Any news on the other fronts?" Robin asked.

"None so far. The others have not yet reached their destinations." J'onn answered.

* * *

_**Den of the Wyvern (Minutes ago)...

* * *

**_

Savior raised up a Shimmer strand that said 'one'.

Beastboy was fully focused on the Wyvern. He blocked out everything else. The Wyvern was all that mattered...

Savior's Shimmer strand morphed to say 'two'.

Scalpel's grip on his glaive tightened and his eyes narrowed, glowing more and more brightly.

The Shimmer strand morphed again. 'THREE!'

Instantly, Starfire shot out her eye lasers along with her Starbolts, all of them slamming into the Wyvern. The mighty Dragon roared as it woke up to a really bad night. Savior's Shimmer strands tried to dig into the Wyvern, but for all the good they did, he might as well have poked it. The Wyvern rose to full height and looked down on the battle-ready heroes. It whirled and breathed fire directly into Starfire, grabbed her, and finally slammed her into the cave wall.

It turned back to the others, who were already on the attack.

SHUNK.

The glaive stuck in the Wyverns side. It screeched and shot fire at the group, causing them to scatter. Except for one being, which had now changed. The Wyvern whirled around to see another, almost exactly like itself. The difference? The other Wyvern was green.

Beastboy lashed out his tail, barbed tip and all, into the Wyvern, who jerked back, but was still hit. The barbed tip dug deeper in the skin, but the Wyvern had had enough. It grabbed Beastboy's tail and swung him as high as it could, knocking him into the cave ceiling. Beastboy got up, shrugged off the pain, and shot out a claw that sliced across the Wyvern's face.

Angered, the Wyvern blew fire at Beastboy, who extended a wing in front of himself. The wing took the damage for Beastboy's torso, so he survived, at least. The Wyvern then slashed out his own tail, but Beastboy was smarter than that. He grabbed the tail's barb, broke it, and sliced into the Wyvern's tail.

The two then backed away from each other and started circling one another, examining each other, trying to formulate a plan.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

"There's another Draconic energy in the Wyvern cave. It's Beastboy." Pride said aloud.

"That would figure. Fight fire with fire and all that." Robin replied, only half-paying attention.

"Hey, Robin." Pride said.

"Yeah?" Robin asked, turning around.

"The Invasion is almost here." Pride said, darkly.

Robin turned around and reactivated the communications with the Watchtower. J'onn appeared, concentrating on something.

"J'onn, the Invasion's almost here. Is the Cannon ready?" Robin asked.

"Yes, Robin. The Cannon's ready. Although, I do not see the Invasion. Are you sure of it?" J'onn replied.

"Yeah, I'm sure, J'onn. I can sense that massive amount of Draconic energy coming. They should be maybe a mile away from the Watchtower." Pride answered.

J'onn nodded and minimized the contact.

_**

* * *

Den of the Wyvern...

* * *

**_

Beastboy and the Wyvern stared each other down, pacing on the edges of the cave. Beastboy's tail flicked out towards Raven, who understood. The stalactites snapped and shot for the Wyvern with incredible speed. The Wyvern smashed a few with his claws, but a few pierced his back, one tore off his left wing. The Wyvern howled in pain, but it managed to grab out for Raven.

This, of course, drew out Savior, who charged at the Wyvern, Shimmer strands surrounding him. They kicked him off the ground and swung him to the Wyvern, when he shot out a few strands that pierced one of the Wyvern's eyes. It sliced through the Shimmer strands and sliced a large gash in Savior's gut, causing him to fall. Raven cast her usual chant, causing Savior to be let down gently.

The Wyvern squeezed harder on her as Beastboy charged for it. Raven was unceremoniously dropped by the uncaring Wyvern, who charged for Beastboy, roaring ferally. Scalpel shot between the two as fast as he could. He dodged, ducked, and rolled until he was behind Beastboy, onto whom he leapt upon. The Blacktrinian hastily climbed up the changeling's neck until he was on top of his head.

The Wyvern and Beastboy grappled, each trying to dominate the other. Beastboy, however, was weakening faster. He had been in this large form for a long period of time. Pretty soon, he'd be spent and that'd be the end of it.

Hardly.

Scalpel leapt onto the Wyvern's head and dug his claws into the Wyvern's nostrils, causing blood to spray and the Wyvern to scream a Draconic screech. Scalpel cried in anguish as he covered his over-sensitive ears and tried to keep on the Wyvern's head. Beastboy lashed out with his tail and sliced into the Wyvern's side, allowing blood to flow freely.

The Wyvern sucked in air, and Beastboy's eyes widened. Scalpel climbed hastily to the Wyvern's neck, his ears bleeding. The Wyvern shot fire, only to miss. Beastboy had transformed back to save himself. He was on his knees, panting heavily. The Wyvern looked down and grabbed the changeling with his tail.

"You were a challenge, you little runt…" the Wyvern growled.

Beastboy's eyes widened. _It could talk?_

"But now, you bore me." the Wyvern finished, tossing Beastboy lightly to the ground.

"HOW BORING IS THIS?" a voice shouted from somewhere in the caverns.

Before the Wyvern could react, bombs exploded all around it. It raised its undamaged wing to protect itself, but they were soon torn off by the heavy fire. Assault and Artillery rushed into the room, armed to the teeth with a wide array of heavy weaponry.

"Scalpel! Aim for the area of no plating! It's right where his neck and head meet!" Assault ordered.

The twins tossed away the grenade launchers, which were now no use to them. Hastily, they hefted up the large cannon-like guns strapped to their side. They aimed it up at the Wyvern and lasers tore from it, slicing into the cave wall behind the Wyvern. It let out a fire ball, that caused the twins to roll out of the way. The lasers were let loose again, but only for a few seconds. They stopped and the twins discarded them as well.

"Poor battery. Shoulda' charged it more," Artillery muttered, pulling out two large guns.

His twin mimicked him.

Scalpel was forced to dig into the scales with his claws in order to get a good grip. He looked about for an area with no plating. It was hard when he was constantly getting jerked around. Even when it stayed still, there wasn't one that he could see.

"There isn't an area without plating!" Scalpel shouted to Assault.

"It just looks like that! The scales are weak at the mentioned place! ATTACK IT ALREADY! KILL THAT LIZARD FROM HELL!" Assault shouted.

This caused the Wyvern to jerk its head more wildly, almost forcing Scalpel to dislodge and hit the cave wall behind him.

"Put up heavy fire on both sides of its head. If we can get it stop, Scalpel can kill it." Artillery muttered to Assault.

"Can do!" Assault replied, aiming for the right side of the Wyvern's head.

The twins let out a burst of bullets, all of them narrowly missing the Wyvern's head. Its eyes widened and it perfectly stopped.

Scalpel aimed and with all his might, slammed his right claw down into the softest scale he could find.

SHUNK.

It struck hard and blood sprayed like a jet stream for a few seconds.

ROAAAAAAAAR.

The Wyvern jerked all about, and this time, Scalpel was sent flying into the cave floor. Darkness consumed his vision, but the last thing he saw was the Wyvern holding its head up high, letting one last jet of flame.

Assault walked over to Beastboy and shuffled through his belt, finally picking up the communicator.

"Yo, Robin. This is Assault, from the Gun Gang. The Wyvern's dead. Scalpel just killed it." he reported.

_Why the hell are _you_ reporting, then? _Robin demanded.

"Because he was knocked out in the process. I think he was, anyways. He ain't movin', that's for sure. The whole team's out cold. Lucky thing we showed up, isn't it?" Assault answered.

_You expect amnesty, I suppose. _Robin sighed.

"That'd be nice, considering we gave you back the money and didn't do any actual harm other than destroy a few cameras and disrupt a work day," Assault replied.

_You better give it to 'em, Robin. They _do_ deserve it. _Pride said.

_Fine. The Gun Gang is granted amnesty, as the other four have been reported to going after that new Dragon. _Robin said.

"Good. But seriously, I doubt you'll see much of us after this. We may go over to Uberton. Sounds like a nice place. I'd like to ask Marmot Man a few things..." Assault muttered.

"We should get our _own_ city. Meh. The decisions are left to Gat. Now, let's get outta here. Hey, Robin, should we take the Titans out with us?" Artillery asked.

_Take them out of the caves. I'll pick them up._ Pride ordered.

_Dammit, Pride, shut up! I give the orders. _Robin snapped.

"Okay, what should we do?" Assault asked.

There was silence on the other end.

"I'll take 'em out of the caves. Pride'll pick 'em up, right?" Assault finally broke the long silence.

_Yes._ Robin said, grinding his teeth.

Assault cut off the comm and picked up Beastboy, then picked up Scalpel. Artillery picked Starfire, Raven, and Savior. They quickly navigated through the cave system and reached the outside.

Pride appeared in front of them.

"Hey, I ain't got much time. Robin's got me on the clock. Some device that'll screw up my powers. So, I got time for this: thanks guys. You were great. Now, I'll take them." Pride applauded.

The twins dumped their cargo at Pride's feet.

"Thanks for helping us at the Corporation, Pride. We even now?" Assault asked.

"Yeah. We're even. See yah." Pride said, disappearing.

"I hope not. There's always a problem whenever we see him. It's happened twice, hasn't it?" Assault said.

"The first problem we caused. This one… who cares? Let's get back to base. The rest should be there in a few hours." Artillery replied, walking off.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower…

* * *

**_

Pride appeared with the dispatched Titans at his feet. He walked back into the cage and closed the door.

"J'onn, the Wyvern's been taken care of." Robin said.

"Good to know. The Invasion is visible. I will fire soon." J'onn replied.

"What of the others?" Robin asked.

"Wonder Woman is ready to take on the Invasion. She dispatched her Dragon a few minutes ago. She'd been there a while. Argent had to depart from the group heading for the South African Dragon, in order to aid the anti-Invasion force. The group lead by Deathstroke did the same." J'onn reported.

"Not entirely good news, but good enough for now. I've just gotten report that Metatron and Viridian have taken care of their Dragon as well." Robin reported.

"All's going well, then. Good. Taokii's as good as dead." Pride muttered.

_**

* * *

Unknown…

* * *

**_

A voice sighed.

_Hardly. You know this, Pride. Bah. I have my plan, you have yours. It just so happens that they're one and the same._

_**

* * *

Rainforests of South America…

* * *

**_

A familiar figure padded virtually silently through the rainforests. His gold and black mask glinted briefly in the darkness before fading back into the shadows. Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke the Terminator, was hunting. However, his prey was elusive. He had glimpsed it once, maybe twice.

This Dragon was swift.

He snuck about from tree to tree, eyes darting rapidly about, taking in everything. His prey would elude him no longer.

Not that it wanted to.

A jaguar-like roar echoed through the forests. Any man would shrink in fear or commit suicide as quickly as possible, had they heard the roar.

Slade Wilson merely looked in the direction of the roar and unclipped the pistol on his belt. He could hear light crunching, like a cat walking through a path covered in dead leaves. He focused on the area and saw it.

A green and brown leopard-like creature. He focused harder and noted that it had scales _and _fur. The head was that of a Dragon, true enough, albeit with a third eye. No wings that he could see. Its claws were much larger and longer than any jungle cat for sure. They were more akin to a raptor.

The very image of a perfect hunter.

Deathstroke raised the gun and aimed at the beast's head. A jaguar-like screech later and it was gone. He looked around and saw it once again. It was getting steadily more difficult to see it, though. Along with its fast movements and camouflage, the rainforest was getting darker by the second, it seemed.

He finally had it in his crosshairs. The shot made no sound, but it connected with the Dragon's right hind leg. It growled a feral growl and shot for Deathstroke, its speed seemingly undeterred by the shot. It leapt for the mercenary at an incredible speed. Deathstroke soon found himself pinned, with his suit slowly being sliced through. Putrid breath met his senses.

Deathstroke peered into the Dragon's center eye of three. The two stared down. The Dragon backed off of him and knelt before him. The hunter acknowledges its superior.

Deathstroke got to his feet rapidly and walked around the creature.

"You could be of use to me." he murmured.

He pulled out the communicator with the Justice League he was given to report success.

"The Dragon has been dealt with. I expect my payment soon." Deathstroke growled.

"It will be sent to you shortly." J'onn responded, cutting the link.

Deathstroke crushed the communicator and took apart the parts. A tracker, as suspected. He tossed the tracker onto a tree and examined the parts, which he then pocketed.

"A very useful hunt indeed." he muttered.

Deathstroke walked through the rainforest, the Dragon beside him.

_**

* * *

Unknown…

* * *

**_

_Very good, my pet. Leave with him. _

_**

* * *

Southern African Diamond Mines…

* * *

**_

Bushido silently walked into the mines, followed by four people, all carrying guns. They should look familiar. It's Gat, Gunner, Scope, and Snipe.

The samurai urged them to go faster, and they complied, trying desperately to make no noise. The five finally reached a large opening which bore a multi-headed monstrosity, awake and aware of their presence. Bushido pulled out his communicator and held it up so Robin could see the Hydra.

"I'll report this ASAP." Robin said when Bushido pulled the communicator back to face himself.

"Let's rock." Gat said, causing several guns to materialize.

_**

* * *

Watchtower…

* * *

**_

J'onn was at the computer, looking at the view screen. There seemed to be a cloud of nothing but vicious Dragons. He pressed several buttons and one button started blinking.

The Dragons flew steadily closer and closer. Their menacing presence drew ever closer…

J'onn felt he needed an Oreo as his finger pushed the button.

**REIGN**


	12. Reign: And So It Begins

_**And So it Begins...

* * *

**_

_**I discovered that my audience average (aka Chaltab) was left confused. My poor writing skills did this. I'll try and fix that confusion in the story, except for the differences in Dragons. That can be found on The Dragon Species Names are the following:**_

_**Mexican Amphithere**_

_**Wyvern**_

_**European Dragon**_

_**Asian Lung**_

_**Hydra**_

_**Now, the Tiger and Centauri are of my own creation. The Tiger Dragon is obvious and already described as of last chapter. The Centauri is like a Wyvern, only with four legs and two arms and no wings.

* * *

**__**Oh, and I want to hear nothing about Pride's plan. I can tell you nothing as to what will happen with that.

* * *

**_

_**I made up the following poem out of boredom and paid for it by having to read it in English class. The response was good, so I figured I'd post it here. It DOES have to do with Arc, more specifically, the Arc's Title. (The actual inspiration came from Reign of Fire, a fairly good movie with Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey, two exceptional actors.)**_

_The mighty soar_

_To win the war_

_Dragon, their name_

_Fire their fame_

_They will bay_

_And they will fight_

_Throughout day_

_And throughoutt night_

_With tooth and claw they will win_

_Let the reign of fire begin

* * *

_

_**Again, the following code continues to apply.**_

_Nik conversing with Manik_

**Manik conversing with Nik**

_**The Author (probably being stupid)

* * *

**_

_**And finally, I decided to have this as a pure conversation chapter shortly before finishing it. Next chapter will feature action scenes a lot and often. Deal?

* * *

**_

_**Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

Robin turned to Pride and walked around the cage in a fashion akin to a shark swimming around its prey.

"Pride, I'll need to hear the entire plan of Taokii's. You seem to have it memorized. I'll need to hear it in full detail so as to counteract it to the best of my ability." Robin said, still pacing.

"Alright then. Taokii places his strongest Dragons, usually six, but sometimes seven, in the planet that he's targeting. He then sends a large number of weaker Dragons towards the planet. An hour before the invasion, the Dragons Taokii placed, called Leaders by myself, burst through the ground and attack everything that moves or looks like it could move. The Leaders are typically more than capable of staying alive for over an hour, during which time the army comes. If the planet didn't have their hands full before, they would then. Between the army and the Leaders, the planet is usually wiped out. It depends on lot on who gets the jump on who." Pride explained.

"So, since we got the jump on him, we pretty much negated his strategy?" Robin asked.

"Not entirely. See, if the Dragons didn't do the job, then the planet was probably wiped out, energy-wise. They wouldn't expect another invasion. This time, it involves "human" soldiers. Their guns don't run on ammo though. And all their weapons have at least some blasting properties, due to, you guessed it, Darkness." Pride continued.

"What about Taokii? Does he ever show up for the invasion?" Robin asked.

"No. He just wants the planet destroyed or weakened enough so that none of the inhabitants can interfere in the war between me and him. It typically works. If he went to the planet, he might be weakened or even killed in the invasion. Manik's been killed in the invasion a few times. So, no, of course he doesn't come." Pride finished.

"Alright. There's not too much new there, except for the good news. Our surprising him helped us kill the Dragons, I presume?" Robin stated, then asked.

"Yeah. It was about two hours when most of the Dragons were engaged. However, the Hydra is just now being engaged. And the Invasion starts in just a few minutes. Those twelve heads can probably keep Bushido and the rest of the Gun Gang very busy for those five minutes, I'm guessing." Pride said.

"But what about the plan?" Robin asked.

"Taokii knew they were being attacked. So, what else could he do but simply delay the heroes going after his most powerful Dragon, Hydra, and ensure that it doesn't burst until the actual Invasion starts? It goes against the usual plan, but he's done it before. Nine times, including this time." Pride explained.

"Alright then, I'll contact J'onn. Nothing serious to report here, as he probably knows about the Invasion." Robin muttered.

_**

* * *

Watchtower...

* * *

**_

J'onn transformed into his usual stone form as fire hurtled towards him. He couldn't stand the heat, but he knew he had to. As it relented, he transformed into a Dragon of his own form and wrapped around the Dragon that attacked and crushed it quickly. Rapidly, he did this to four others crawling into the room.

"J'onn, this is Robin, where are you?"

J'onn shouted out, "Robin! The Watchtower is under attack! To prevent the invasion at its fullest, almost all the other heroes went down to Earth to stop it there. The Watchtower's defenses were supposed to keep them out. The Dragons overloaded the shields! Send this report to as many hero bases as possible to warn them. However, I do not want them coming here! I will handle things here!"

Robin cursed over the line, but complied. He cut off the line and J'onn was left alone with the Dragons.

He turned into stone again as several Dragons smashed into him. They fell back, dying, their skulls cracked. J'onn turned to an approaching one and sent out a telepathic signal. The Dragon whirled on several others and started slicing into them. It killed two of them, before getting killed itself. J'onn applied this power across the board, before sitting down and focusing on the telepathy, keeping it going to ensure the Dragons killed each other.

Finally, there was silence as J'onn got back up, and looked about at the dead Dragons. He walked over to the main computer and typed away. Shields went back up at full power. The Invasion was passed the Watchtower, though, so the point was moot, for the most part.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

Cyborg and Gauntlet walked through the doors of the Tower, to Robin's, more or less, pleasure.

"So you're back? Good. Cyborg, I'll need you to work on sending the transmission from the Watchtower. Send it to every computer that is owned by a superhero." Robin said, walking off.

"Hey, where are you going?" Cyborg demanded.

"I drank about three bottles of water and I've been in this room for about three hours. I'll leave you with that." Robin replied.

"Ugh. Fine. I'm on it." Cyborg groaned, sitting down on the chair.

"What should I do?" Gauntlet asked.

"Don't touch anything. Talk to Pride or something." Cyborg ordered.

Pride smiled on the inside. It was time to enact the plan. He put Manik back in his place, reverting to Nik. Gauntlet sat next in a comfy chair next to Nik.

"Hey, Rob. I got a favor to ask." Nik started.

"What's that?" Robert asked.

"Ya' see... My daughter's about 15..." Nik trailed off.

Robert sat up, interested.

"She's sort of got a crush on you. 'You're the most real of the superheroes', she tells me." Nik continued.

Robert looked towards Nik, a hint of a smile on his face.

"You serious?" he asked.

"Oh yeah. I don't know if it goes further than a teenage infatuation, but it's her birthday wish. Could you grant that?" Nik asked, a hand out through the cage.

Robert was about to let out a shout of triumph, but instead he grabbed Nik's hand and shook it vigorously. He figured he had to keep his cool. A father without powers with a grudge against the boyfriend can be dangerous, superhero or not. A father _with_ powers? It's better to just remain cool and make sure to say the right things.

"What time, what day, where?" Robert fired off.

"7 o' clock, this Friday, Pridion Corporation. Take her to the movies: Spiderman 3, I think. Ask her about dinner." Nik answered.

"Got it." Robert said.

He turned around and his grin covered three-fourths of his face. He rushed upstairs and started sifting through clothes. Nik then let Manik back out and turned into Pride once more.

"Thanks for getting him out of here." Cyborg said over his shoulder.

"No problem." Pride replied.

"Were you serious when you said that? Your girl had a crush on Gauntlet?" Cyborg said, typing away at the computer.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Pride asked, innocently.

**RED FLAGS! WARNING LIGHTS! SIREN! PRIDE ASKED SOMETHING INNOCENTLY! HORROR AND MISERY SHALL SURELY BEFALL THOSE IN HIS WAY!**

"Yeah, whatever." Cyborg replied, clicking a few times, then spinning around in his chair.

That was when Robin came down into the main room.

"You've sent out the transmission? Good. The others will need some minor medical attention. Provide that, if you would." Robin ordered.

Cyborg sighed, but obeyed. When he had disappeared from view, Robin raised an eyebrow at Pride.

"What?" Pride finally asked.

"Why is Gauntlet sifting through his clothes and asking me what he should wear? Did you convince him he's gay?" Robin asked, squinting at Pride.

"Ummmm... no. Although that _might_ be why he's never secured a girlfriend. And why he and Savior can play off each other so well." Pride replied.

**There is my tribute to Prisionero and Risen-Corruption. Bwahaha?**

"Screw it. I'm ignoring you." Robin said, turning back to his computer.

"By the way, be quieter next time you and Kori get friendly. Or at least make sure my room's soundproof. The shadow's sound attracted my attention. On a completely different note, the hot water's been used up. Twice." Pride said.

Robin would've spewed assorted liquids if he had been drinking something.

"Yeah. I figured that grab your attention." Pride smirked.

"A) I'm on it. B) How the hell does shadow have sound?" Robin demanded, his eyes wide and twitching.

"Not actually sound. But your shadows were far more erratic than normal. That's usually affected by emotion, though. I just figured you two were being loud. Funnier that way." Pride shrugged.

"Why must my hero's code prevent me from even stabbing you in a nonvital area?" Robin asked himself.

"Hey, you don't have it that bad. Gauntlet was right next to Savior and Raven at one friendly moment. Something about an adhesive spell." Pride pointed out.

**Read _Hand in Hand _if you didn't get the above statement.**

"Why do I talk to you?" Robin asked.

"The same reason you're telling me this. By the way, the invasion is starting in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." Pride said, smiling.

The screen came on, featuring Bushido and the Gun Gang.

"We tried our hardest, Robin, honestly! But that damn Hydra got free!" Gat declared.

"I figured that. Keep attacking. Kill the Hydra. It's unlikely that you'll have any help soon, so you'll have to tough it out." Robin ordered.

"Yes SIR!" Gunner shouted, saluting.

The screen shut off.

Pride snickered.

"I'm going to kick the shit out of you when this is all over."

Pride roared with laughter.

**REIGN**


	13. Reign: Eight Headed Freak

_**Eight-Headed Freak...

* * *

**_

_**Yeah, poor attempt at humor, blah, blah, freaking BLAH. I leave genuine humor to the other voices, who shut down every so often.

* * *

**_

**Manik**

_Nik_

**Author

* * *

**

_**South African Plains...

* * *

**_

The Hydra normally had twelve heads, but of course four people with guns and a master swordsman screwed that up. It didn't plan for anymore losses. The necks of the severed heads were covered over by rapid growing flesh, a necessity for any multi-headed creature.

Heads A, B, and C scanned the area, taking in the positions of their combatants. Heads D and E were contemplating methods of attack. Heads F, G, and H were blowing fire about, just to keep the enemy away.

Gat nodded to Snipe, who held up his specially-made sniper rifle, and aimed for Head C. Head C noticed this, but didn't act. Not yet. Head A focused on Snipe, taking in his trigger finger fully without letting anyone notice his focus. Having no visible pupils helps in such matters. Plus it gives a _really_ creepy appearance.

Snipe looked to Gat who twirled his hair. Code for 'now'. He pulled the trigger and cursed when Head C jerked out of the way and Heads F and H snapped out. Heads D and E screamed out mentally for them not to, but it was too late. Their aggresiveness royally screwed them up.

Scope, Gat, and Gunner opened fire on the outstretched heads. None of them were capable of heavy artillery, but what they had was enough. The pistols were of high caliber and contained special bullets specifically made to pierce Dragons' scales. Heads F and H retreated back, severely bloodied up and exhausted. They were now no longer able to breathe fire due to enough bullets having stricken their eyes and the specially-made ducts in their mouths.

This was Bushido's cue. He had already snuck up behind the Hydra as the attack went on. Heads A, B, and C were unable to locate him in the fact that F and H were getting shot, thus sending bits and pieces of pain through them as well. Bushido leapt up and sliced through Head B as quickly as possible. C and A reacted with lightning speed, with the same tactic: bite.

They bit into each other's mouths, allowing Bushido to escape. A loud hissing sound was heard and fire was discharged from several of the Heads. The Gun Gang and Bushido quickly took cover, but Gunner was too slow. Fire consumed him, and he fell to the ground, half-charred. He clambered desperately to get out of the way of the Hydra's path, but failed. The beast bounded and soon scooped him up in one of its claws.

Gunner was one of the few people to be fought over by a Hydra.

Head G won the meal.

Gat had a problem with the decision. She burst out with a machine gun that she planted into the ground and started spraying. The Hydra roared with fury, but then shot off a fireball. Scope threw a freeze grenade, which negated the attack, or at least the frying part of it. Gat was shoved out of the way by Snipe, who was crushed by the ice ball.

Gat roared with anger, created several clips and machine guns, and sprayed with them all. Scope assisted in the barrage, which sufficiently kept the Hydra from attacking. Scope threw another freeze grenade, which exploded, engulfing Heads A, C, and F. The heads shattered upon gunfire aimed for the newly made ice sculptures.

That's about the time that several dozen Dragons crashed in.

"SHIT!" Gat shouted, drawing the Hydra's full attention.

G and H spewed massive fireballs, nearly incinerating the group. Bushido was given another opportunity to attack, which he took. He leapt towards the Hydra from the side, but was negated in his effort. Almost. D snapped out at him, but Bushido managed to land on his head and stab into him with his sword. D jerked about, roaring in pain.

The Dragons crowded in around the group, blowing fire towards the heroes.

Bushido yelled a primal battle cry as he tore the sword from the Hydra's skull as violently as possible. Head D gave a moaning death cry as Bushido leapt to the next head. Head E was aware of Bushido, so it zipped out of the way and blew fire at him.

The Gun Gang was dodging about, trying their hardest to not get fried, but with so much fire all around them, it was getting exponentially harder with every minute.

Then help arrived in the form a certain blonde earth maiden.

Terra zoomed through the crowd of Dragons, drawing their attention to her instead of the Gun Gang. She zipped about, avoiding their fire with relative ease. A small pebble cracked off the platform and shot forth, slicing through one of the Dragon's eyes, and going straight through its brain. Death sentence.

If Terra wanted the Dragon's attention, she had it in spades. Forget the group below, kill the newest one! The Dragons all took off after her, all except one. Technically three, though.

The Hydra was still occupied with the group that could serious damage without much surprise. Scope popped up from behind a nearby rock and shot off a whole clip into Head E's eye. It roared in pain, and the other Heads joined in the chorus, spewing fire all about as they howled. Scope reloaded and shot off another clip at the Hydra, but missed all but one shot. It pierced a scale of H, but did little else.

Gat came out with a Dragon-hunting shotgun and blasted Head H. It shrieked in pain, then was sliced through by Bushido, who leapt away into the shadows, waiting for the next kill.

It would happen that Scope was the actual next kill. She burst from behind a different rock formation and shot a Dragon bullet straight into E's lower jaw. It let several fire balls fly into Scope, incinerating her. Bushido sliced into the Hydra's back, jumped up and sliced into E's neck, got enough leverage, and ripped the sword through it.

With only one working head left, the Hydra was quite screwed. It altered its body structure to remover the excess area required for the other eleven heads. Now, it was a basic Dragon, one that would soon face demise.

_**

* * *

Unknown...

* * *

**_

_You are of no further use to me. Die now._

_**

* * *

Southern Africa...

* * *

**_

The "Hydra" shrieked into the air, stunned by some unseen force. Bushido leapt up and sliced through the Hydra's head, officially taking out the beast.

"OPEN FIRE ON MY COMMAND!" Terra shouted.

She lead the Dragons through a loopty-loop, then zoomed towards Gat.

"NOW!" She shouted, swerving up.

Gat threw several grenades and opened fire with the Dragon Shotgun, taking out about 40 of the Dragons. Gammas were easily put down. Terra swerved by the small mountain and waited at its base. The Dragons swarmed all around her. She smirked and moved a stray strand of hair out of her face. Her eyes began glowing radiantly, and the glow pulsated into her hands, which she held up high.

Boulders burst from the mountain and rained down upon the Dragons, crushing the remainder of their number.

Terra fell to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. Gat walked over to her and kneeled next to her.

"Good job, Terra. Should I report this now, or would you rather wait?" Gat asked.

Terra just unclipped the communicator and tossed it lightly, then fell over on her side, still breathing heavily. Gat nodded and activated it.

"Robin, the Hydra has been taken care of, along with around one hundred minor Dragons. Three casualties to be reported, all of them my team members." Gat reported.

_"I'd offer my condolences, but you'd probably think them hollow, as I never truly knew them. The Teen Titans thank you for what you have done. Full amnesty has been granted." _Robin answered.

Gat nodded grimly, tears forming. She cut off the communicator and set it down to Terra. Gat then walked off to cry in private.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower…

* * *

**_

"Well that seemed far too easy…" Robin muttered.

"There has to be some other plan. He must be doing something else. I've known Taokii to have plans _within_ plans. I don't know what he has planned, I honestly don't, but I will try as hard as I can to stop whatever it is. This I swear." Pride said, mostly to himself.

_**

* * *

Unknown…

* * *

**_

_Please, keep telling yourself that. It always amuses me to dash hope before I kill the one with high hopes. It's quite a thrill…

* * *

_

**REIGN**


	14. Reign: Black Parade

_**Black Parade

* * *

**_

_**No songfic for you!

* * *

**_

**Manik**

_Nik_

**Author

* * *

**

_**Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

With a nice large bruise on his face, Pride still snickered as Robin typed furiously.

"You bastard! If you ever pull some shit like that again, I'll ensure that you never see your daughter again, damn it!" Robin roared.

The snickers were stifled with all haste.

"Now, has there been any other plans that Taokii has employed?" Robin asked, his demeanor suddenly lighter.

"Several. One time he set it up so that when the Dragon Leaders all died, some energy came up and devoured everything. It was _really _good, as a plan. Oh, but don't worry. That won't happen here. He has to have a few years to set up the energy. Plus, water is the antidote to the energy. Most likely, he's gotten something or someone planted in a position of power. There's been a few other plans that never worked the first time. Once a plan fails, Taokii doesn't use it again, except for this plan. It can provide enough deviations to be dangerous." Pride answered.

"So this should be an easy win?" Robin asked.

"Well, then there's always the army of Shadow Walkers that'll come in soon." Pride responded.

Robin shrugged. There has been plenty of other invasions before. This one will turn out the same.

_**

* * *

Keystone City...

* * *

**_

Flash and Kid Flash saw the myriad of Dragons swarming the city. A split-second later, they were in action. Kid Flash ran up the side of a building, leapt off it, towards a Dragon. With incredible speed, he burst through the Dragon, and a few after it. They moaned pitifully and disintegrated before they hit the ground. Kid Flash noted the oddity that they didn't explode, but couldn't discuss it yet. He'd tell Robin later.

17 Dragons remained, and they weren't happy. They folded up their wings as they spewed fire all about. Flash and Kid Flash were unable to get passed the onslaught. There was _definitely_ something strange here. As soon as they hit the fire, they were knocked back.

In the dark, the fire lit up the lifeless city. Flash contemplated the situation quickly, then an idea came to mind. It was obvious, and it had to work.

"Small tornado, Kid Flash." Flash ordered.

Kid Flash nodded as they called upon the Speed Force and summoned a small tornado. The fire was sucked away into it, several Dragons with it. The tornado was carried into the nearest body of water, where it ceased, killing off 11 of the Dragons. With six Dragons left, the Flashes knew that the battle was theirs. The six were unable to provide a sufficient shield of flame.

Flash ran up one's abdomen and stepped hard on its neck, cracking it. Kid Flash repeated this procedure on a different Dragon. The next Dragons were unable to defend themselves from it, but the final two managed to knock them away before the attack succeeded. Speed Force went active as fire was sprayed about at the speedsters.

Flash sped by an alley and picked up a few trash can lids. He handed two to Kid Flash, who looked at him, confused.

"Chunk these at the lizards. Let's see if we can't knock 'em dead." Flash smirked.

"Alright!" Kid Flash shouted.

The trash can lids flew through the air at the Dragons. Most were shot down, but more were thrown at the Dragons as the Speed Force users shot through the city to find more. Several got through the barrage, successfully crushing in the red Dragon's skull. The other Dragon, a blue one, roared in anger, allowing several fireballs to jettison from his throat.

The speedsters dodged every one of them with ease. However, the barrage had not ended. In a surprise move, a fireball exploded at their feet, sending them into the air, getting pummeled by the asphalt shooting through the air. They landed on their butts, groaning.

The Dragon was ready to fire off another one, when electricity surged through its body, causing intense burns within it, killing it efficiently.

"Woah. I thought Godzilla was extinct. I guess this is that one that survived, huh?" Static asked, swooping by.

"Hey Static! Aren't you supposed to defend Dakota?" Flash asked.

"Gear, Rubberband Man, and She-Bang are holding up fairly well. A lot of the other Bang Babies are helping out, too. I figured I could swing by a few places to help out." Static explained, flying off.

"Thanks!" Flash shouted.

_**

* * *

Titans' Tower...

* * *

**_

"Yo, this is Static! Keystone City's covered. No Dragon left alive. From what I heard, most other heroes have their ground held pretty well, too. Well, a few metas aren't able to fight, but I've been doin' some serious cross-country scouting. Gear upgraded my board. Hyper speed, baby!" Static reported.

"Good to hear. I've gotten a lotta' good reports so far. Gotham, Metropolis, Keystone, Bludhaven, and a lot of other areas are clear. I think this invasion has been successfully countered. Keep up the good work, Static." Robin ordered.

"Yes sir!" Static mock-saluted.

The line cut off and Robin sighed.

"So how long will this invasion last?" Robin demanded.

"It's about eleven right? In about... hell if I fucking know. If sunrise hits, it's definitely all over. So, it'll probably be until dawn. You should probably get some sleep, Robin." Pride said.

Robin decided to ignore the smartass comment. It was actually about 3 o' clock.

"Can't sleep, Pride. I've got a job to do. Caffeine patch will have to do overtime for me." Robin replied.

"You humans can't go for very long without sleep. You'll go insane what with all the stress and lack of sleep. Get some sleep. Cyborg's been charging for the passed few hours. He could take over for you. Hell, Savior is probably already insane. Use him. You get some rest, though." Pride said.

Robin yawned widely, failing to stifle it.

"See? What'd I tell you. Go to bed. Only Cyborg, Savior, and Raven are awake right now. Cyborg's fully charged, of course. Savior's a nutcase, as I said. Raven's just reacting to all the psychic energies shooting about." Pride said.

"Excuse me?" Robin asked, standing up and stretching.

Alertness and a steady body were hard to keep at about 3 o' clock am.

"Dragons have some limited psychic abilities. Just enough to tell each other where to be." Pride lied.

Robin nodded and headed up to Cyborg's room. The ability to detect lies is hard to pull off about 3 o' clock too.

Cyborg walked down the stairs, looking about.

"Alright, what do I need to do?" Cyborg asked.

"Since Robin was about to go unconscious right in the hallway, he probably didn't say anything, eh? Well, you'll need to read the file Robin wrote up on everything I've told him, along with what else has happened during this invasion. While and after you do that, wait for reports to come in from the other heroes fighting off this invasion. All the Titans have come in, including Terra, so don't worry about them. Other reports should come in soon, though." Pride answered.

Cyborg sighed as he sat down and began carrying out Pride's instructions.

_Alright, with Robin gone, it's time to search for it. _

**I've already found it. It's in our Granit Minor.**

_Clever. Put it in the organ that stimulates pain._

**Apparently, he studied our body at some point. I could count how many people on Earth know the physiology of a Shadow Walker on a crocodile farmer's hand.**

_Robin's smart. He'd know where to put it, of course. Don't do anything to it for now._

**Excuse me?**

_The Lightning Orb can detect shadow energy, remember? For now, don't do anything. In a few hours, however, steadily put an INCREDIBLY small amount of shadow energy into the orb. Do this every... 30 minutes until an hour from sundown. We have to ensure it doesn't detect the energy, as it goes on high alert at night. _

**Smart, for a human.**

_I'll tell you when to activate the shadow energy and rip the orb out._

**How will it not detect the energy beforehand?**

_In such small doses over a long period of time, it will adjust to the amount, steadily. The orb doesn't have a high enough brain function to limit the amount of shadow energy that can be contained within it. It resets every few minutes. At least 20, but at the most 27. A design flaw that's not easily recognized, for sure._

**Gotcha. I'll be on standby.**

"Hey, Pride, one thing isn't clear about the invasion. How come it hasn't come in massive swarms? It's more like a…" Cyborg trailed off.

"A black parade? Yeah. It's odd. I guess it's a variation, or else it's just a lack of force. A few times there's been enough Dragon's that the skies were blotted out. A few other times, there's been enough that there's close to ten to a continent. It's odd, yes, but it always depends on resources. Guess he just doesn't have 'em." Pride said.

"Oh, by the way, Pride, Robin gave me a quick order. You'll be allowed to see your daughter as soon as this invasion is over." Cyborg said in an offhand manner.

Pride's jaw dropped. He quickly assessed the situation and made a demand.

"Let me out of this cage. Turn off the Orb."

"No."

"I am going to end this invasion myself if I have to."

"It's almost four o' clock. Your daughter's not a bat. This invasion will be over soon, right?"

"I despise you and your kind."

"You'll get over it, shadow boy."

"Kiss my ass, Stone."

* * *

**REIGN

* * *

**


	15. Storm: Don't Rain on My Parade

_**Don't Rain on My Parade...

* * *

**_

_**Yeah, yeah, yeah... I didn't use storm-like metaphors in the final chapters of Reign, so I use them now. Bwahaha. Or something.

* * *

**_

_**Titans Tower...

* * *

**_

Pride wasn't present, to everyone's relief, almost. Instead, the Titans were sitting about, relaxing after the invasion. Well, almost everyone.

"Savior, if you don't shut up about Pride, I will stab you." Robin growled.

"He's a security risk. A convict with powers on the streets!" Savior argued.

"IN THE EYE." Robin glared.

"What if he goes rogue again?" Savior demanded.

"WITH A TWELVE INCH DAGGER THAT I WILL PROCEED TO CASTRATE YOU WITH, DAMN IT."

Savior returned the glare more ferociously, but whirled around and walked off, clearly annoyed.

"Robin, why does Savior not trust Pride to such an extent?" Starfire asked.

"Because he's an ex-convict with at least thirty murders under his belt. It's safe to say that no one with that knowledge is comfortable with Pride on the streets. Frankly, I know he actually loves his daughter enough that he won't do anything to draw attention except perhaps for his lack of sight. Savior doesn't understand this. Few people do. Most people believe that murderers are cold-blooded or insane, incapable of love. I know different. Some kill to protect the ones they love. They aren't insane or cold-blooded through and through. Just a little extreme. Pride is a little extreme." Robin explained, having turned to Starfire.

"HAH! I BEAT YOU DOWN, ELF BOY!" Cyborg shouted from across the room.

"Try again!" Beastboy snickered.

Cyborg looked at the screen. Beastboy had blown up his car and sped passed the finish line.

"YOU LITTLE CHEAT!" Cyborg roared.

The two proceeded to fight for several minutes while Gauntlet snickered. He had passed the finish line several seconds before Beastboy, and was waiting for them to realize it. Raven was not present, as she preferred the luxury of silence that only her room could provide.

Scalpel was in his room, examining his blades and ensuring that they were at their best. He could sense the feeling when the Dragons came. It was like an electric feeling: one of foreboding. That feeling still crept up and down his spine every so often. Sophie had morgue work.

Robin got up from the couch and turned on his personal computer, which contained recent notes that he would later transfer to the main computer. He pulled up the notes on the invasion and read through it as quickly as he could scroll. He found what he was looking for.

_Pride has mentioned that the Invasion is a two-part invasion. The Dragons invade to wipe out the defenses, or at least tire down the defenses enough for the second part of the Invasion, if its necessary. On occasion, the Dragons wipe out the world. Soldiers will come in the millions, all bearing aid from the Darkness and weapons more advanced than our own, such as guns with no need for ammo or a power source, non-discharge weapons, such as swords or staves, with blasting capabilities, and legions of ships that run on Darkness alone. With such force, they could actually challenge the entire Justice League and have a good chance of winning. _

_Pride claimed the ability to take them all on at once. Whether he's lying or telling the truth, I can't tell. With his Shadow Manipulation, it is possible that he could absorb, reverse, negate, or at least reduce any blow thrown at him. He was born specifically to fight off such a force, and only that specific force. However, I can not allow him to actually take part in stopping any of the Invasion. Not all the heroes have been informed of what he's doing to aid our efforts. Pride is currently too valuable a resource to be allowed to die._

"Damn it... I should've kept him for questioning..." Robin muttered.

_**

* * *

Unknown...

* * *

**_

Deathstroke the Terminator sat in a throne-like chair, with a computer screen in front of him. It held all the vitals and recorded information on the Tiger Dragon he had in his possession. Plans within plans were formulating in his mind, constantly. Some plans were outrageous, some had potential, while others were genuinely great. He had to figure out the best possible plan, and how to mold it into a better plan.

"That last one was half-decent, although I'm particularly pleased with the cloning plan." a voice said from the Darkness.

"Hmmm... excellent stealth to evade my notice. You would be Taokii?" Slade asked the Darkness.

"Planted a bug on my opposite?" Taokii asked.

"No. Bugged the Tower itself. I heard what I needed." Slade answered.

"Then you know I'm not one to cross." Taokii replied.

"And considering what you know of me, since you obviously possess mental reading capabilities, you know the same of me." Slade growled.

"True enough, human." Taokii laughed.

"I do not see you as the social kind, so you obviously have business with me. What is it?" Slade demanded.

"Merely a merger of interests. I lack muscle in my armies. The Dragon Army should've been able to take care of this world, but it obviously didn't. I don't have an incredibly amount of resources on the Shadow Walker Planet. Three flagships, fifty cargo-tankers, three hundred assault tankers, one thousand squad ships. Resources are limited, as you hear. Thus, I think I have a better plan. One you might take interest in." Taokii said.

"No." Slade replied.

"Excuse me?" Taokii demanded.

"Your resources are limited. What can you do? Your only plan is Invasion, and that will not work. Why waste my time with a plan that will never come to fruition and the outcome is obvious from the moment the partnership begins?" Slade shot back.

"Simple. It's not an Invasion. I intend to kill Pride. That's honestly my only true target. He's been my only target. Ever. After all, the sooner I kill him, the sooner that Mal rewards me." Taokii stated.

"So you want me to help you destroy the world? I am not a simpleton, Taokii. I heard and absorbed every word Pride said." Slade replied, his eye narrowing.

"Destroy the world? Please. Where did you hear that? The world is not destroyed. It is consumed by Darkness. Chaos ensues for a few years, but the heroes are usually killed in the struggle, along with many innocents. After that, it's better. There's plenty of crime for villains, like yourself, to commit. Whatever you wish to do, do. Just help me kill Pride." Taokii ordered.

"What is your plan?" Slade said.

"Simple. Send a small group of commandoes to take out the Titans. Knock them out quickly. They are not my main focus. Never where. When Pride is lured back by a few less talented commandoes, the main commandoes will take him out. More commandoes will steadily stream in until he's defeated. If push comes to shove, I will cause an Invasion, but better. There will be a lasting Darkness that will cause many heroes here to slip into a paralytic state. I was unable to do so in the previous Invasion, because I lacked the technology and magic. But Pride provided me with what I needed." Taokii said, with a feral smile, as he held up an Orb with a variety of colors swirling within.

Taokii had stolen the Nightmare Orb.

"I see you have the Orb Pride used on the Titans. Well done. I'm not interested." Slade said, coldly.

"Are you quite sure? Ah well." Taokii sighed.

He melded into his shadow, but the Orb went somewhere else. The Tiger Dragon found it beneath him a little while later and understood the plan.

_**

* * *

Titans Tower...

* * *

**_

Rob walked into the living room, all slicked up. He was wearing a nice black shirt with various Hawaiian scenery with blue jeans.

"See you guys later. I gots a date!" Rob said, walking out the door.

"He's finally cracked." Gar said, shaking his head.

"Whose finally cracked?" Tara asked, coming in.

"Rob. He claims he's got a date." Gar laughed.

Tara laughed with him.

"The sad thing about this situation? Rob actually has a date." Vic said.

Gar and Tara laughed louder.

"Good one, Vic. Good one." Gar chuckled.

"No. Seriously. Nik set up a date between Rob and his daughter." Vic said.

That sent everyone in the room into fits of laughter, minus Kory.

"Nik! Set up a date?" Gar laughed.

"I do not understand what is so funny about this situation. I think it is sweet that Nik would allow his daughter to go out with friend Rob. Why is it so amusing?" Kory asked.

Tim turned to her to explain the hilarity of the situation.

_**

* * *

Pridion Corporation...

* * *

**_

Kiyami smoothed out her shirt and looked at herself in the mirror. Leon stood beside her in his usual corporate suit. She was wearing a white t-shirt with jeans that were a bit too tight. The average high school outfit.

"Are you ready for your big date?" Leon asked.

"Yep."

"Nervous?"

"Sort of."

"Afraid he won't like you?"

"You don't remember the plan, do you?"

"Oh! Right. Of course."

"This'll be fun."

"Tell me how it goes later on."

A knock on the door was heard. Leon opened it to see Robert.

"Ah. Hello, sir. I'm here to pick up Kiyami." Rob said.

"Here she is. Have a good time you two. Be safe." Leon said, urging his adopted daughter out the door.

"Shall we have Spiderman 3 now?" Rob asked.

Kiyami's jaw would've dropped. Something just hit her like lightning. Suddenly, the plan was forgotten.

"Ummm... sure, yeah." Kiyami answered.

Leon closed the door behind them and chuckled lightly.

"Well, looks like Pride will have to get his vengeance some other way. Ah, poor Kiyami."

_**

* * *

Outback Steakhouse...

* * *

**_

After the movie, Kiyami had chosen Outback as the dinner place.

"Oh, remember how he just smashed Sandman's arm off?" Rob said, his eyes wide.

"They actually got an amputated wrestler for that scene. Is that not awesome?" Kiyami replied.

"And how he got the suit off? So awesome." Rob laughed, sitting back.

At that moment, their waitress came by and set their food on the table.

Rob immediately began gorging on his food in the fashion all anime characters do. Kiyami ate a few bites of her burger, then put it down and sighed. She chuckled at the atrocious display before her. Robert looked up at her with food speckled on his face, smiling. Kiyami bust a gut laughing. Rob's cheeks glowed brightly as he sat up and dabbed his face with a napkin.

Kiyami snickered a little bit longer.

"Ah, Kiyami, have you ever heard of Uberton?" Robert asked.

"Can't say I have." Kiyami replied.

"Well..." Rob began.

_**

* * *

Unknown...

* * *

**_

Taokii sat in a large room, surrounded by various monitors.

"Hmmm... I do believe it's time to start. Send in the Storm."

* * *

**STORM**


	16. Storm: Storming the Tower

_**Storming the Tower...**_

* * *

_**Insert some random crap that's like commentary here. Additionally, are the Gauntlet scenes pleasing, BobCat?**_

* * *

_**Outback Steakhouse...**_

* * *

Kiyami was chuckling lightly. The table was clear of everything but their drinks.

"And that's why Marmot Man runs away from Paragon everytime he so much as smells her." Robert said.

_'Well, there goes any hope of continued dating. I wonder if he realizes Paragon has been after him since day one?' _Kiyami wondered.

"What about you? Anything exceptionally funny that sticks out in your mind?" Robert asked.

_'Nah. He doesn't have a clue.' _Kiyami thought with a smile.

"I see there is. What is it?" Robert asked.

"...This date." Kiyami suddenly said.

"What's so funny about it? Other than my stories. I mean, how often do you get to go out with the hottest guy on Earth?" Rob asked, smiling.

His teeth gave off the cliched 'shing' sound and sparkled.

Kiyami laughed again, "that was your best one tonight!"

"Awwwww... Oh well. Wanna' go to another movie? Pirates 3 is still showing. Jack Sparrow rules!" Rob declared.

Kiyami laughed lightly, then nodded. Rob slapped down a hundred dollar bill and got up to leave. Kiyami followed, chuckling to herself the whole way.

* * *

_**Titans Tower...**_

* * *

A small roar boomed through the Tower and the power shut off, putting them into darkness.

"SHIT."

* * *

_**Taokii's Ship...**_

* * *

"Ah. Good job, Stalker. Without power, they will be even more helpless against the Commandoes. Now, send in Achel to lead Pride to the Tower. Send Enbedex to lead the Commandoes." Taokii ordered.

The floating orb in front of him made a small hissing noise, then floated off to deliver the orders.

"And so the game begins."

* * *

_**Titans Tower...**_

* * *

"Okay, nobody panic. The power's out, sure. That shouldn't possible, sure. Nobody... panic." Robin ordered, as cool as a cucumber.

"Robin." Beastboy said in the darkness.

"Yes Beastboy?" Robin asked.

"The emergency lights aren't on." Beastboy stated.

"Ohh... Oh my." Robin muttered.

"The weird thing is that I can barely see anything in this darkness. The heat signatures are even disappearing." Cyborg said.

The Titans heard a group of bipeds going down the stairs. They whirled around to face the group, ready to attack.

"It's just us. Raven and myself." Savior said, calmly.

* * *

_**Rooftops of Jump City...**_

* * *

A reptilian humanoid emerged from the shadows and searched the other roofs with quick glances. Finally, he spotted his prey: Pride. A loud hiss escaped his mouth, and he had Pride's attention. The reptilian shot off, and his quarry followed.

* * *

_**Titans Tower...**_

* * *

Hissing flowed into the main room.

_Pitiful humans!_

The Titans looked around wildly, to no avail. They were completely blind. The darkness was like a fog. They heard a jaguar-like scream outside.

"Huddle together in a circle! Face outwards, everyone!" Robin ordered.

It was difficult to do, but the Titans succeeded in finding each other and forming the circle.

"On my order, all those capable, lash out with long-range attacks. We'll have to hit one of them!" Robin ordered.

The assorted sounds of nearly everyone prepping their weapons or natural abilities for combat was heard. Another loud hiss was heard, but there was no translation for the Titans. After all, it was an order for the other commandoes.

"NOW!" Robin ordered.

Starbolts were fired, Shimmer strands zipped out, various objects in obsidian energy shot off, two Sonic Cannons blasted, and bits of earth launched forward in a desperate bid to knock out their invisible opponents. No such luck.

Three figures appeared within the circle and warped the Titans out in pairs.

Starfire, Robin, Cyborg, Beastboy, Raven, Savior, and Terra.

Wait, that's not an even number, is it? Of course not. Someone was left behind. I'll give you a hint: he's a cyborg.

Did you guess Robin? CONGRATS, YOU TARD.

Cyborg whirled about, desperately searching for his target.

"From what I hear, you conquered the Nightmare Realm. I wanna' know though... was that just a fluke? 'How could a human accomplish such a feat?' I asked myself. But now I know. You must have some strength. I wish to know of it myself." Enbedex hissed.

The lights snapped on, and there stood Enbedex. He was like a raptor with humanoid limbs and a lion's head. He held a silver pendulum-like scythe, which swung once, releasing a loud ring.

"Hear the sledges with the bells - silver bells!" Enbedex cried, raising up the pendulum.

Cyborg was hit by an invisible force, then he too was teleported.

* * *

_**Nightmare Realm...**_

* * *

Cyborg looked about at random flashes, as an assortment of enemies flew by. He ignored them. They were mere shadows in his mind. Nothing. Less than the meanest ghost. Enbedex appeared, grinning ferally.

"What a world of merriment their melody foretells?" Enbedex said in a questioning manner.

Cyborg raised up his Sonic Cannon and let a burst loose on Enbedex. He jumped over the single shot and slammed down the pendulum scythe into what substituted for a ground. Energy burst towards Cyborg, far too fast for him to dodge. He was sent flying, until his momentum reduced enough for him to stop and get back up.

Only to see Enbedex above him, the pendulum scythe ready to seperate Cyborg's left half from his right. Cyborg decided that far too extreme a measure for weight loss by rolling out of its path as Enbedex slammed into the ground. The scythe did not hit it, though. Instead, it swept to the right, where Cyborg had rolled. His eyes widened, but he managed to grab the blade and prevent it from damaging him.

"How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, in the icy air of night!" Enbedex suddenly said.

Cyborg was blasted three times, knocking him to the ground. Then, strands emerged from the ground, wrapped around Cyborg's arms, legs, waist, and neck, and heaved him into the air.

Enbedex floated in front of him, grinning that damn maniacal grin. Rather than use his scythe, he opened his jaws wide and bit into Cyborg's flesh. Cyborg roared in pain as Enbedex fed ravenously on his arm. Cyborg flailed and roared, to no avail. Enbedex lifted up his head as he reached bone.

"Quite tasty. For a black." he said, his mouth oozing blood.

That was the salt in the wound. The salt that Enbedex would later wish he had not rubbed. Cyborg glowed with energy, like that in Titans East. The flesh mended itself with a flash of black, and the tendrils disappeared. Then Cyborg understood. This was his realm.

"While the stars that oversprinkle all the heavens seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight." Cyborg replied.

Hey. Enbedex wasn't the only one who could quote Poe, now was he?

Cyborg raised his hand and then aimed it for Enbedex. Energy poured down from around them, tearing into the commando leader. He smirked when it was over. There was no way Enbedex survived that. He was in for a surprise when Enbedex remained floating there, in near-perfect condition.

What? You expected him to be dead in a page's worth of time? Pfft. Tards.

Enbedex swung his scythe and an after-image remained, even after it came to a complete stop. The after-image became energy that fired at Cyborg, who let go of the energy and fell to the ground, avoiding the attack. In doing so, he also kept Enbedex from accessing the stores of energy within the Nightmare Realm. Suddenly, Atlas leapt at him in an attempt to take down the half-robot.

The punch sent Cyborg reeling. It took him a moment to brace his mind for the phantoms within the Nightmare Realm. Gizmo popped up and fired at him, but the bullets went passed him.

"Night night, punk." Cyborg muttered, firing off the Sonic Cannon, dispersing the growing-closer phantoms.

"Keeping time, time, time, in a sort of Runic rhyme." Enbedex chanted, blasting with every chant of 'time'.

Cyborg blasted the shots, though, negating them. With the mention of Runic rhyme, however, Enbedex warped in front of Cyborg and slammed into him with his shoulder. Cyborg staggered back, but heaved up his Sonic Cannons and chanted back, blasting with each repeated word.

"To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells from the bells, bells, bells, bells!"

Enbedex dodged two of the shots, but the second two sent him reeling.

"Bells, bells, bells!" Cyborg shouted, firing off three more shots.

Enbedex grunted in pain as each shot slammed into his chest. Cyborg leapt on top of him and socked him square in the face. Enbedex spewed a black substance.

_Blood._

Cyborg ignored it as he continued the onslaught.

_Left! Right! Left! Right!_

Finally, Enbedex had enough. He let Cyborg know this fact through song... I mean a claw through his chest. Cyborg roared in pain, but head-butted Enbedex for his trouble. Enbedex was sent reeling, flat on the ground. He didn't have the advantage of a semi-metallic skull. Enbedex reached out for his scythe, which spun into Cyborg, knocking him off with a _KER-SLICE_ to the side.

Cyborg was forced off of Enbedex, but he hastily got up anyways. Enbedex locked eyes with Cyborg. Cyborg, however, stared in Enbedex's soul.

HE WAS NOT PLEASED.

A grenade fired off from Cyborg's cannon, which exploded in Enbedex's face, knocking him to the ground and causing him to skid several hundred feet. Several more grenades were launched into Enbedex, causing even more pain. He was now showing the pain. Several cracks appeared on him, although they seemed not to actually be on him.

A final grenade pierced into Enbedex's chest, then exploded. Shards of energy went everywhere, as Enbedex's armor was torn from him. He somersaulted up and called his pendulum scythe to him. He twirled it and another pendulum blade appeared on the other end of the pendulum scythe.

Question: How many times can I use 'pendulum' in a sentence?

Answer: Get back to the story.

Cyborg walked calmly towards Enbedex, even as phantoms caved in all around him. Atlas. Gizmo. Fixit. ASP. Dunagan. Cyberion. The dead bodies of his friends.

In the end, that meant nothing to him. He was aware of what he saw. However, he knew what it was. Phantoms. These could not harm him, physically or otherwise.

The phantoms still pestered him as he clashed with Enbedex.

"From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells." he muttered, deflecting the scythe with his left hand, transforming his right into a Sonic Cannon, which fired point blank into Enbedex's face.

Enbedex was sent flying into the air by the blast. Cyborg crouched and leapt up into Enbedex's back. After that initial blow, he grabbed Enbedex and twisted him so he would face the ground. When he hit, Enbedex took all the impact. The commando couldn't pick himself up.

Cyborg reared back and delivered a blow that crushed Enbedex's skull.

Just another phantom.

* * *

**STORM**

* * *


	17. Storm: The Banging and the Clanging

_**The Banging and the Clanging...

* * *

**_

_**This is SPARTA.**_

_**MANIK**_

_SHADOW WALKERS

* * *

_

_**Nightmare Realm...

* * *

**_

Starfire and Robin stood back to back, each seeing their worst fears spring out of the darkness.

_PITIFUL._

The two whirled about, their minds racing and adrenaline pumping furiously. Where had the noise come from? WHERE?

The giant serpent-like humanoid leapt down with a loud bang. It hissed again, only to intimidate. It pulled out a hammer and slammed it on the ground. Shockwaves ripped through the Realm, shaking Starfire and Robin to their very core.

They had been assaulted once, and that had barely served to strengthen themselves against a second onslaught.

Savior and Raven had their hands clasped tightly together. Each was chanting as loudly as possible, as the Darkness swirled around them. It consumed them, like a raging inferno swallows a forest.

"_**AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!**_" they roared with all their might.

The Shimmer enveloped the lovers, and a shield of obsidian energy formed over that.

No cry came out as the figure emerged. Shadows of the nightmares shot out from behind him. Trigon. Asphyxiation. Slade. Shadows. Merely this and nothing more.

The figure was cloaked, but not for long. It came off to reveal someone who could pass for a human, until he changed. His skin morphed into dark red scales. His eyes shut and opened as silver slits. He held up his right hand and a steel glove with clawed fingers formed over it.

He wore basic armor on his waist, which was almost a loincloth. In his steel hand he held a partisan. He smiled a feral smile, filled with sharp teeth.

"Nevermore shall you embrace, young lovers." the Shadow Walker hissed.

Terra clung to Beastboy for dear life as the untold horrors of her past awakened around her. Beastboy clung for equal measures, as just as much horror was wrought upon him.

"No matter what, Terra, remember, I'll always love you." Beastboy whispered, tears streaking down his face.

Terra sobbed and nodded in agreement.

The figure burst from the ground, fire consuming his decaying body. Hollow eyes peered at the embracing pair. Sinewy flesh pulsed as muscles tensed to grip the war hammer all the tighter. The fire licked all about him, never harming him. Pain was his ally.

Jisynja showed no emotion as he walked towards the pair.

* * *

_**Home of Leon Pridion...

* * *

**_

Leon sat in his chair, calmly waiting, as the knocks on the door were heard.

"Intrude!" he beckoned, snickering.

The door opened revealing a yawning Rob Candide and Kiyami Pridion.

"Ah, home in one piece? Still a virgin? Good. Now then, off to bed, Kiyami. Rob, I suggest you best be off." Leon said.

Kiyami snickered at the virgin bit, while Rob nearly choked on air, somehow.

"Good night, Kiyami." Rob called.

"Good night, Rob. Tell my father sorry about it, but... emotions arose. He'll understand. I had a lovely time." Kiyami said.

"By the way, Rob, ensure that Nik behaves himself. I'd rather he not run off and get himself put in jail or something. And tell him he needs to visit more often. Barely get to see him nowadays." Leon said.

"Sure thing, Mr. Pridion." Rob said.

Leon smiled as he shut the door.

"Yes! A date that didn't end with my testicles in my stomach! EAT THAT UNIVERSE!" Rob cried to the heavens.

He activated the Gauntlet and took off for Titan's Tower.

* * *

_**Titan's Isle...

* * *

**_

Pride and Achel stood on the rooftop of the great Tower. The storm had come quickly, and the winds were practically hurricane-force. Pride's normal cloak was abandoned for a karate-esque suit with a bandana over his eyes.

Achel stood before him, a snake-like humanoid, wielding two axes.

_YOU ARE FOOLISH FOR REFUSING TAOKII'S HELP, MANIK._

_**GO TO HELL.**_

Shadow energy took root and sprung up around Achel, trapping him. Pride lifted up his hand and let a large burst of shadow energy fire from his hand. It slammed into Achel and knocked him off the Tower. Pride moaned in pain as he fell to his knees, vomiting black energy, as he slowly disappeared into his shadow. He would emerge at Leon's shadow, and be cared for.

But that is unimportant. What is important is that Pride screwed up big time. The Law of Bob and George is in effect. You _always_ must see the body before assuming someone dead.

_**

* * *

Shadow Realm...

* * *

**_

Robin and Starfire turned to face their assailant. The great, gray serpentine charged at them with all the speed of a king cobra's strike. Robin threw a birdarang a lot faster. It pierced the serpentine's gut, but he might as well have missed for all it mattered at the time.

Starfire reacted on instinct, and lasers burst from her eyes, and tore into the serpentine. Too much momentum had been gained though, and the lasers did not deter the Shadow Walker beast. It slammed into Robin and Starfire with an unnatural speed and strength. They were nearly crushed by the monster. However, thanks to the Tamaranean strength gifted to her by birth, Starfire forced the attacker off of them.

_YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ASTAROTH. ASTAROTH WILL DECIMIATE YOU WORMS._

The hammer crashed hard on the ground, sending more shockwaves. Starfire and Robin were bounced around a bit before they managed to right themselves and get back into battle stances. By then, Astaroth was charging again.

Fool me once and all that.

Starfire grabbed Robin and flew up above Astaroth, preparing Starbolts on her way. She dropped down, released Robin, and let her energy discharge in Astaroth's back. The beast fell to the ground with a roar. It got up and turned to them. His yellow eyes glared determinedly at the team.

He raised the hammer to strike again.

The steel-gloved Shadow Walker waved his right hand, and the Darkness was washed away, revealing a shaky Raven and Savior, leaning on one another just to stay standing. The nausea slowly paused, but they were still shaky as they started walking towards the Shadow Walker on their own two feet again.

"Do you know who I am, children?" the Shadow Walker asked, displaying his sharp teeth in a smile.

The two held no response in store. They merely lashed out. As Raven could not use her magic on anything in the Nightmare Realm, she was forced to merely enhance the Shimmer as the whip-like sentient shot forward towards the Shadow Walker.

He grinned and grabbed the Shimmer, piercing the magic shield and slicing through the Shimmer. He ripped through more of the magic and more of the Shimmer, sending more waves of pain through Savior, until his scream reached a pitch unable to reach human ears. Raven felt the waves of pain wash over her, but she was unable to do anything about it.

Her magic... it was gone.

"Your worst nightmare, children. I am Nothel. In your langauge: Reaper."

Raven suddenly threw herself over Savior, in a desperate attempt to keep him safe.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM."

Reaper merely laughed demonically and held up the steel claw. He brought it down across her face with a blinding intensity.

Beastboy turned into a raptor and charged at Jisynja. The war hammer nearly caved his skull in. He transformed into an anaconda and wrapped around Jisynja rapidly. He was thrown aside just as quickly. Jisynja threw his war hammer at Terra. It caught her in the gut with the bladed edge, then twirled upwards by the power of some demonic force and thrust her backwards with a blow to the head.

Terra fell to the ground, screaming the whole way. She saw red as her vision turned to haze, before finally blotting out with her mind slipping into unconsciousness.

"SONUVA!" Beastboy roared.

He transformed into a gorilla and slammed his hammer of a fist into the side of Jisynja's head. The Shadow Walker backpedaled a few feet, then grabbed the whip on his belt. He reared it back, letting one see the length of the whip. Well over twenty feet of metallic rope. It flew toward Beastboy and tore his side open. He growled in anger and transformed into a tiger.

Jisynja cocked his head as the tiger leapt toward him. He fired off the whip, causing it to wrap around Beastboy. He stepped to the side and jerked the whip back as hard as possible, forcing Beastboy to hit the ground _hard._

The Shadow Walker walked over to Terra and picked up his war hammer, before starting off for Beastboy again.

_**

* * *

Titans Tower...**_

* * *

Gauntlet walked in, soaked but smiling brightly. He looked around and saw Cyborg cleaning off his armor with a piece of cloth. Enbedex's crushed body was sprawled on the floor.

"What the smoof?" Gauntlet asked, lightly kicking the body.

"It's dead. I made sure of that. It's a Shadow Walker, like Pride described. The others are fighting the rest of the group. Well, except for Scalpel." Cyborg explained.

"Where is he?" Gauntlet asked, poking Enbedex's corpse.

"I dunno. My best guess is that he's in his room, still." Cyborg said.

A hiss crept down the stairs.

_Wrong._

"Whuh?" Gauntlet asked, whirling around.

Scalpel walked down the stairs, carrying a scythe, unusual. His coat, gaudy as Savior called it, and hat were discarded in favor of basic clothing, still red. The most unusual were his eyes. They weren't glowing blue. They were pitch black.

"Scalpel?" Cyborg asked.

_Strike two._

"It's a Shadow Walker!" Cyborg shouted, rapidly transforming his hands into cannons.

Gauntlet formed a shield as "Scalpel" threw a small orb of black energy.

"What the hell is wrong with Scalpel?" Gauntlet demanded.

"He's been possessed by a Shadow Walker! Probably the same one that possessed Dr. Light." Cybog answered.

_HAH! Achel can't stand up to my possession skills! I am named for the race that does possession best! Ekto!_

"Doesn't he mean some demon related pun?" Gauntlet asked.

"I guess ghosts do it better. Danny showed that he can do some pretty damn good possession." Cyborg whispered.

Ekto-Scalpel walked towards them, the scythe prepared to strike. Cyborg fired the Sonic Cannon, but the blast was parted, diverging in two different ways, just narrowly missing Ekto-Scalpel.

_**

* * *

Titan's Isle...**_

* * *

Achel crawled weakly towards the Tower. That fall had kicked the proverbial crap out of him. That shouldn't have been his biggest concern though. The Tiger Dragon bounded down the island to the shore where Achel was.

_Good... You are here to help me. Thank you._

The Tiger Dragon snorted flame which lightly singed Achel. That didn't affect him much. It was the emotion behind the snort. Hunger.

The Tiger Dragon opened its maw and bit off Achel's head before the Shadow Walker could react. It continued to eat, getting more and more powerful with each bite. Finally, it stood on two feet, looking moreso like a Draconic human, rather than a Dragon. It growled and looked towards the Tower.

_MASTER. SEND MORE TROOPS._

_**

* * *

Flagship...**__

* * *

They are on their way._

_  
__**

* * *

Jump City Coffee Shop...**_

* * *

It was late at night, maybe around ten, which didn't explain why the girl was still in the shop, sipping a light drink. At that point, Nik walked in and sat down at the same table.

"Can I help you?" she asked, somewhat nervous.

"You don't recognise me from the news reports?" Nik asked.

"I don't get to watch it much." she replied.

"Too busy stopping bank robberies?" Nik asked.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot. I've got a favor to ask."

"Name it. Just don't tell anyone."

"Sure thing. There's a spot of trouble at Titan's Tower."

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not ready for the big time."

"I wonder how the orphanage managers would react to the knowledge that one of their own is actually the Dirge whose been stopping several robberies. Probably, they'd ground you. I would if I was them."

"Listen. I'm not ready. Period."

"Yes you are. I'll give you the element of surprise. There aren't many you'll have to fight. Plus, the Titans will help you."

Kitty Evens sighed in a relenting way. She shook her head, causing her long, black hair to shift around a bit. Finally, she looked at Nik and nodded.

"Good. Come with me." Nik ordered.

**

* * *

STORM**


	18. Storm: The Clamor and the Clangor

_**The Clamor and the Clangor

* * *

**_

_**I was computer-less for a week or so. I have a monitor once more. I saw Spiderman 3. School is out in two weeks. Life is great.

* * *

**_

_**KEY**_

_Shadow Walker

* * *

_

_**Nightmare Realm...

* * *

**_

The great hammer slammed into the ground, sending off shockwaves. However, Starfire and Robin were in the air, way out of reach. They were prepared for it. Astaroth growled lowly, reared back the hammer, which began glowing, and hurled it towards the lovers. It slammed into Robin and Starfire before they registered it leaving the Shadow Walkers hand.

The were sent spinning backwards as the hammer continued its beating. Finally, the glow dissipated and the lovers crashed into the ground. Starfire groaned as she sat up slowly. Astaroth was way in the distance, currently not a threat. She turned to see Robin, bleeding profusely and bruised heavily.

"Robin?" she asked.

He didn't stir.

She poked him lightly.

No response.

She shook him.

No response.

"Robin! Wake up! Robin! PLEASE!"

Starfire sobbed as Astaroth stomped slowly towards her.

_WEAKLING._

The sobbing ceased. Starfire looked up, her eyes blazing. Energy poured off her hands.

"YOU KILLED ROBIN! THIS IS SOMETHING I CAN NOT FORGIVE!"

Eye lasers tore through Astaroth. A massive Starbolt enveloped him. Starfire breathed heavily, on her hands and knees. Astaroth lay flat on his back, bleeding and smoking. Horribly, slowly, his arms rose. At a snail's pace, he got up.

_YOU CAN NOT DEFEAT ME._

He grabbed his great hammer and dragged it behind him as he walked toward Starfire.

Raven was sent sprawling away from Savior's writhing form. She looked up at Nothel, her face almost covered in blood. Hate burned in her eyes. Nothel merely laughed at her and hit her across the side of the head with his partisan. In a flash, Raven was held up by her neck by Nothel. She struggled, uselessly, against his iron grip.

He smirked and let his claw rake lightly against the side of her face. Raven's face tingled, and a few lines of red formed where the claw touched her face.

"Hmmm... I've never had a demon before. I wonder if you taste good?" Nothel wondered aloud.

With that, he bit into the same shoulder Raven had healed a few months ago. As the pain burned into her mind, so did an image of the Blacktrinian assassin, White Hole. She had come to kill the "traitorous" Scalpel, and in the process of the fight, had taken a chunk out of Raven's shoulder. The memory burned brightly, and the pain was just as intense.

Nothel licked his lips, a small amount of blood trickling out of the corner of his mouth.

"What do you know? Demons with a splash of human do taste good."

That's when the Shimmer bore into his back and came out of his chest.

"What do you know? Shadow Walkers don't have good memories." Savior quipped lowly.

He let the Shimmer fire him forward. The Shimmer formed spiked knuckles over his right hand, which he used to nail Nothel in the back. Nothel stumbled forward, still holding his prize. He whirled around and let his claw backhand Savior. Savior roared and formed a Shimmer sword. He sliced at Nothel with all his might.

Raven screamed as the sword pierced her torso.

Beastboy groaned as he crawled to his feet and tried to stand as tall as he could. Syn continued his pace, war hammer glinting maliciously. Beastboy looked around the plane of existence he was currently in. Nothing but the empty black was what he could see. Terra was bleeding a bit, but her wounds didn't seem bad... from a distance.

Beastboy transformed into a cheetah and darted for Syn. A few feet away, Syn slammed the hammer down, but missed when Beastboy transformed into a gerbil and rolled under Syn. He transformed into a whale, throwing him high into the plane. Beastboy moaned when he transformed back into his normal form. He fell on his hands and knees, sweating. He had expended too much energy. Far too much energy.

"I really hope that was his weakness."

Terra walked over to Beastboy and huddled next to him.

"Don't give up Beastboy. We'll get through this. We have to. Come on."

She kissed him on the forehead and pulled his head into her lap.

"We have to think of a plan. What can we do?" Terra asked.

Beastboy couldn't think, couldn't speak. He closed his eyes as his exhaustion consumed.

_**

* * *

Jump City...

* * *

**_

Kitty walked with Pride along the side streets.

"Why did I agree to this?" Kitty asked.

"Because you want to keep going to that coffee shop." Pride replied.

"Why are we walking?" Kitty asked.

"Because I'm not sure where I need to go. It's around here somewhere... Ah, here it is." Pride said, pointing to the closed Star Jewelry.

"A jewelry store? You're creepy, old man. The answer's no."

"Moron. Grab my shoulder."

Kitty grabbed Pride's shoulder, rolling her eyes as the two sunk into their cast shadow.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower...

* * *

**_

Ekto-Scalpel ran at Cyborg and Gauntlet with the scythe poised for a quick attack. Gauntlet formed a shield over himself and Cyborg.

_So it's that way, eh? I've destroyed diamond with this scythe._

He leapt into the air, the scythe glowed with purple and silver power, then the scythe came down on the yellow energy. The shield dissipated on contact and energy tore into Gauntlet.

Cyborg aimed a gun at Ekto-Scalpel. His hand shook violently. If he killed Ekto-Scalpel, he would only force the threat into a different body and he would kill his teammate. No choice. He shot Ekto-Scalpel in the legs, but the possessed Blacktrinian laughed off the shots. Cyborg's eyes widened.

_'If Dr. Light was a major threat when possessed... it's no wonder he can laugh off bullets...' _Cyborg thought.

Cyborg barely dodged several swipes from the scythe. He could hear it whistle through the air during one particularly close call. Ekto-Scalpel ducked when Gauntlet sent a whip of yellow energy towards Ekto-Scalpel. Cyborg used both his fists clasped together to bash Ekto-Scalpel's back. He charged into Cyborg, grabbed his legs with his claws digging in deeply, lifted up Cyborg, and continued charging until he rammed into a wall.

Gauntlet encaged Ekto-Scalpel in yellow energy.

"What then, natch?" Gauntlet mocked.

"This."

The scythe came barreling for Gauntlet. He didn't turn around in time.

**KER-SHANK.**

The scythe stabbed into Gauntlet's left arm. He shouted in pain and the cage around Ekto-Scalpel disappeared, allowing him to drop down. He called the scythe back to him. Ekto-Scalpel ducked as Cyborg swung at him from behind. His leg shot out and caused Cyborg to fall forward. He rolled out of the side, then he pierced Cyborg's torso with the scythe.

* * *

_**Titan's Isle...

* * *

**_

Stalker stood tall, observing the soldiers Taokii sent. All were clad in black armor that had multiple cutting points.

_BE PREPARED SHADOW WALKERS. NOW IS YOUR TIME. WE CHARGE... NOW!_

They charged to attack the Tower. They were somewhat shocked when Manik emerged from the darkness. He roared and black fire-like energy spewed from his maw. Dirge leapt on his tail and slid down his back, then leapt up into the air.

"DIE!" Dirge screamed.

Sonic blasts spread out over the soldiers.

**THIS IS GONNA' BE FUN.**

**

* * *

STORM**


	19. Storm: The Moaning and the Groaning

_**To the Moaning and the Groaning

* * *

**_

_**The lines after the first Sophie/Scalpel moment come from the Star Wars Episode III book.

* * *

**_

_**They are neither man nor woman -**_

_**They are neither brute not human -**_

_**They are Ghouls**_

_**And their king it is who tolls**_

_**- The Bells, by Edgar Allen Poe

* * *

**_

_**Key**_

_**Author**_

_Shadow Walker

* * *

_

_**Titan's Tower...**_

* * *

Gauntlet stood tall as Ekto-Scalpel wrenched the blade out of Cyborg's chest. As had happened once before, his namesake healed his injuries. And so, he had the time and surprise to make one move.

Yellow energy formed a spear that lanced out and pierced the scythe. He brought it back to himself and surrounded the scythe in yellow energy. Ekto-Scalpel disappeared.

"What the deuce?"

Gauntlet then found himself Shoryuken'd, as Ekto-Scalpel burst from the shadows at Gauntlet's feet. The yellow energy dissipated and the scythe twirled back to Ekto-Scalpel, who grasped it firmly, growling.

_Don't you dare touch my scythe, you wretched human!_

Then Gauntlet had a thought. An oddly correct thought. Go for the scythe.

_**

* * *

Titan's Isle...**_

* * *

Dirge and Pride stood on the isle, surveying the corpses. Pride reached into his shadow and pulled out a red helmet, which he handed to Dirge.

"Not bad, rookie." Pride commented.

"Can I go home now? I'm kinda' tired from all this." Dirge asked, looking at the helmet.

"You're going to need this to protect your identity from the Titans. They probably wouldn't approve of some random girl with sonokinesis showing up and taking care of small crime. They'd want to watch over you until they finally want you to become a Titan. It's not that great, to give you a reason not to want to give away your identity."

"Why red?" Dirge asked.

"Do you think I can tell what color it is?" Pride asked.

In truth, he requested red, because his adopted son, Logan Vinyette, wore a red helmet when he was "heroing", as he called it.

"Sorry." Dirge mumbled, looking away.

Pride ignored her and pulled out the long slender case and opened it. It held an item he had remembered. He had seen it in Star Jewelry, and sent it to the floor in his anger. It was the White Dagger, and he had used it before, in other dimensions. The only actual white thing on it, though, was the pearl in the hilt. The rest looked like a basic, run-of-the-mill, seven inch dagger.

"Listen up, Dirge. This is the White Dagger. It can null shadow energy and allow you entry into the Nightmare Realm, but it can't harm living beings, unless they rely on Darkness. That's where the Titans are now. From what I can tell, Starfire and Robin will be okay, just poke in there after you attend to the others. They're at the entrance to the Tower. The ones who need your assistance are Beastboy and Terra on top of that rock over there, and Raven and Savior, who are on the top of the Tower." Pride said.

"So what do I do?"

"Slice the air with it and you'll get there. Now then, I have more important errands to attend to. After you help out the Titans in the Shadow Realm, you might need to help the ones in the Tower." Pride said.

Dirge nodded.

"This is not how I wanted to start on the big stuff." she muttered as Pride turned around and disappeared.

_**

* * *

Home of Leon Pridion...**_

* * *

Leon was busy reading a book when Pride appeared. He recognized the sound and was hardly surprised by it. Quickly, though, Pride put away Manik completely, reverting to Nik.

"So, how did the date go?" Nik asked, laying down on the couch.

"Kiyami apologizes for not getting vengeance. I suppose the plan backfired. She actually did have a crush on him and just didn't realize it until she saw him properly." Leon said, closing his book after putting a bookmark in it.

"Ah well. Kiyami was pleased with her date, I suspect." Nik said.

"Oh yeah. She was practically floating when she came in. I doubt she's asleep." Leon said, smiling.

Nik aimed his face in the general direction of Kiyami's room. What? You think I can say that he looked? He smiled.

"She's still up and on the computer." Nik snickered.

"I told her that she can't be on the computer after midnight." Leon said, sighing.

"Oh well. She had a wonderful night, and can't sleep. Normally, I know how she feels. However, I think that 17 years is catching up with me. I know for a fact that Taokii won't attack for at least two days. I think I'm going to go to sleep now. Do you have a guest bedroom?" Nik asked, standing up.

"It's right behind this chair." Leon said.

Nik stretched, yawned, then walked into the bedroom and went to sleep for the first time in 17 years. The last thought before he drifted away was _'Damn I needed this'._

_**

* * *

Nightmare Realm...**_

* * *

Jisynja looked around and discovered hir prey. The girl was crying silently as she held her unconscious boyfriend. Good. The hunt would be over soon. That's all that mattered to Jisynja. The hunt's end was all that consumed him.

The fire leapt up around him, then swarmed around his arm. It then poured out towards Terra. She looked up and nearly screamed. But she regained composure and pulled Beastboy out of the way. She had faced this situation before. Powerless with an almost invincible opponent? Been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt. A big white one with Terra Firma written on it.

She looked around desperately, wishing for a weapon or something to use against Jisynja. She was surprised when a pole appeared in her hand. Terra charged at Jisynja and slammed the pole against his head. A loud cracking sound was heard as Terra looked up, prepared to strike again, a ferocity in her eyes. A large chunk of Jisynja's head was caved inward. Yet still he fought.

She slammed the pole into his side, then finally stabbed it straight through the monster. Terra took a few steps back, horrified to notice that Jisynja wasn't falling. Jisynja cocked his head, then pulled out the pole and examined it. It dispersed into black energy, and Terra knew what had happened. This was her Nightmare Realm, just as it was Beastboy's. But nightmares can't exist without dreams, and dreams are merely wishes stored in the subconcsious.

Terra could control the realm. Soon, the visions that filled her mind with horror disappeared. Now, earth sprang up all around her. It was all sent towards Jisynja in torrents of boulders and spikes.

The dust was whisked away to reveal Jisynja heavily battered, but still standing. His eyes focused on Terra, and fire sprang up around him. The fire put off so much light that Terra was forced to look away. When she looked back at him, the fire had disappeared and Jisynja was back in perfect condition.

Terra was slack-jawed. He could rejuvenate? No fair!

That's when the strange girl in slightly protective clothing came out of nowhere.

"Hey fugly! Like this?!" Dirge shouted, holding up her hands.

Terra screamed in pain as it felt as though her eardreams had burst. She held her hands over her ears, still shouting.

The concussive burst of sound tore into Jisynja, sending him flying. Shadow Walkers had funny properties, really. They could block against just about anything that could connect to shadows. Sound can't connect to shadows, because it can't block light. Which means Jisynja had no protection against Dirge.

The sound burst tortured Terra every bit as much as it did Jisynja, but at least the sound was getting progressively better. For Jisynja, the pain wouldn't do the same.

"Hark silver bells? Freebird? Buttons? What's your request? How about DIE ALREADY!" Dirge shouted.

Two massive concussive bursts put holes into Jisynja. Dirge ran up to him, grabbed his neck, and using her other hand, fired off a sound blast into his face point blank. Jisynja's head was torn from his shoulders and nearly incinerated.

Dirge leapt off the body and ran to Terra.

"Who are you?" Terra asked.

"Dirge. Pride sent me. Now, listen to me, you need to heal Beastboy quickly. Focus on what you want and it'll happen." Dirge ordered.

Terra ran over to Beastboy and focused on what she desired. Beastboy moaned as he sat up. Dirge pulled out the White Dagger and sliced across the air. A portal opened up, through which Terra could see the Tower.

"Alright, listen. There's some trouble in the Tower. Try and see if you can't help Cyborg and Gauntlet. I've got to save the others." Dirge said.

Terra nodded as she and Beastboy walked through the portal to the storming outside.

Nothel only chuckled darkly as he tossed aside his (now dead) hostage. Savior stared at her lifeless body. It couldn't be true. It simply couldn't. No... He fell on his knees. The Shimmer wrapped around him in a seemingly consoling way. Once again, the strange entity forged by white paint and odd chemicals showed sentience. Then, it disappeared, as his emotional strain drained of him energy. His white clothes and hair disappeared, replaced by normal clothes and red hair. Savior was replaced by Noel Collins.

His dearest love was just struck down. Worse, it was by his own hand. It was his mistake. It was his fault. He made a mistake. The biggest one possible. It could cost him his life.

An apparition of his mother appeared.

"You're a failure, son. Like I always knew you'd be. But even I didn't think you'd kill your loved one just as heartlessly as your father killed me." she said, shaking her head.

"No! Mom! Please... I didn't mean to! Mom... please..." Noel pleaded.

Nothel watched, pleased on how he killed two lovers with one movement.

"You're not even up to father's standard. He at least succeeded in some respects. You... you have achieved nothing."

Noel was on his hands and knees, tears streaming. The Nightmare Realm had pierced Savior once more. His mind was open to attack. He looked up and saw the Titans all glaring at him.

"Failure."

"Murderer."

"Never should've accepted you."

"I guess Batman was wrong."

"I bet he framed Asphyxiation."

"False Titan."

"You're no longer a Titan."

"May you rot forever, Noel Collins."

"You're wrong!" Noel shouted.

"No. We're not wrong Savior. You are. You're an arrogant ass. You've needed to be put in your place for some time now. However, the damage is worse than we thought. You're impossible. You're no longer a Titan." Robin spat.

The Titans turned around and walked on, until they disappeared.

**BOOM!**

Savior looked up, a shattered soul. Dirge leapt in and blasted Nothel in the face, full force. She had complete surprise and went for the quickest fatality. Nothel fell to the ground and evaporated into darkness, which fed the realm.

Dirge ran over to Savior and hoisted him to his feet.

"Savior! Listen to me! You can save Raven if you act quickly!" Dirge shouted.

Noel's head hung low.

"IDIOT! LISTEN TO ME!" Dirge roared.

Savior looked up briefly, then closed his eyes.

"She's dead. The Titans left me. My mother despises me. I can't do anything." Noel said, in a monotone.

"No she's not! You can revive her! Come here!" Dirge shouted, half dragging Savior over to Raven.

She let him fall to his knees, then placed his hands on Raven's stomach.

"Remember her alive? Envision that now!" Dirge ordered.

Noel closed his eyes.

"Remember that Azarath Metrion Zinkos bit?" Dirge asked.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos... Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Noel corrected, still in a soulless manner.

"Yeah. That. Remember her alive. And if you focus on that hard enough, she'll come back." Dirge ordered.

"What's the point? I'm not even a Titan anymore. I can't be with her without forcing her off the team." Noel deadpanned.

"Do it!" Dirge shouted.

Dirge finally had enough. She pulled out the White Dagger, and, remembering Pride's words, stabbed Noel in the chest. Black energy, darkness, poured out of his back and into the realm. Finally, the spurting slowed to a drizzle, and she pulled the White Dagger out of his chest. Noel looked at Raven, then focused on his objective.

Raven gasped as she took her second first breath of life.

"Shut up, both of you. No time for questions or anything. Pride sent me. Get to the Tower if you have strength enough for another fight. I doubt it. I have to save the last two." Dirge said.

She sliced the air with the White Dagger, then leapt out into the Isle.

Starfire flew into Astaroth with the force of a comet. Her punch held the heat of a small sun. Her rage had left her with one burning wish: be strong and kill Astaroth. She didn't question where her power came from. She only knew that she had to obliterate Astaroth.

The next punch tore his arm off. Astaroth's hammer slammed into Starfire with the force of a wrecking ball. Starfire flew several dozen yards into the ground. Astaroth glared down into the crater he made. Starfire roared as a massive starbolt erupted from the crater and tore him in half.

Starfire then erupted from the crater and incinerated what was left of Astaroth. With her opponent gone, she now had nothing to comfort her from Robin's death. The tears streamed as she flew to Robin's side. All she could do was wish Robin wasn't dead. She grabbed Robin in a light hug and cried as she continued to wish and wish that Robin was alive and with her.

"St-star-starfire?" Robin asked, breathing in again.

"Robin? Have I died?" Starfire asked.

"If this is dying, well, it could be better or worse." Robin chuckled.

That's when Dirge tore through the Nightmare Realm's wall and ran in.

"Hey... the Shadow Walker's already dead? And Robin's already alive again? What the deuce?"

_**Apparently, Starfire is the smartest Titan. Or just the most emotional and least likely to break. Somehow.**_

"That both scares me and relieves me. Anyway, hey, you two, listen, I'll get you out. Get in the Tower if you can fight." Dirge ordered.

The two were confused.

"Oh, Pride asked me to do this. Don't worry. Now, come on!" Dirge ordered.

She sliced the air and leapt out of the Nightmare Realm for the last time.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower...**_

* * *

Ekto-Scalpel kicked Gauntlet into a wall, just hard enough to get him in the wall, but not out of the wall. Cyborg tried to get up, but then Ekto-Scalpel pierced his torso with a claw and sliced one of the batteries, causing Cyborg to power down.

He then prepared to finish them off when the piece of earth hit the back of his head. He whirled around to see Terra standing there. Next to her was Sophie. Terra had made a quick trip to get her for this fight.

"Nigel? Are you there?" Sophie asked.

"I was just about to finish off my first set of prey. But you had to go and interrupt me. For that, you gonna' die." Ekto-Scalpel growled.

Sophie's eyes widened. She expected Scalpel to be possessed, but it still was a shock, hearing _her_ Scalpel saying that.

Terra swung an arm back, then swung it forward, sending a boulder through the wall into Ekto-Scalpel. Sophie screamed.

"Don't kill him!" Sophie shouted.

"Sorry." Terra said.

Sophie turned into a swarm of bats and flew about Ekto-Scalpel, who swatted at them. However, as he did so, his movements were more jerky, and his eyes were switching between pitch black and eerie blue.

Terra noticed this, and Sophie would have too, if she weren't currently a swarm of bats.

That's when Savior swung in. The Shimmer lanced out and stabbed Ekto-Scalpel to the wall. The swarm of bats regathered in front of Ekto-Scalpel and formed Sophie.

"Please, Scalpel, I know you can get rid of that Shadow Walker. You can fight him off. I believe in you." Sophie said.

Savior shot out another strand of the Shimmer that went into Ekto-Scalpel's ear. He got quick flashes of black and then the Shimmer strand was shot out.

"Too many consciences in one host. Couldn't work." Savior grunted.

Some earth came up and pinned Ekto-Scalpel's limbs to the wall. The Shimmer strand stayed in to prevent the bleeding that would undoubtedly happen if it was retracted. Raven floated in, holding Beastboy in energy.

"Raven, try to purge the Shadow Walker out of him." Savior suggested.

"I'll try." Raven said.

She chanted her usual phrase, and her soul self shot out into Ekto-Scalpel. Ekto-Scalpel thrashed against his restraints, but failed to do so. Raven's magic wouldn't be enough, but it would help.

Sophie stood on her tiptoes and grabbed Scalpel's shoulders.

"Scalpel. Please. Win the fight and come back to me." she whispered.

Ekto-Scalpel's thrashings increased greatly, but it was still in vain. Then Sophie dealt the final blow. She kissed Ekto-Scalpel.

The dark is generous and it is patient, and it always wins- but in the heart of its strength lies weakness: one candle can hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.

Ekto-Scalpel roared briefly, before Ekto was repelled from the body of Nigel Hastings. His breath was ragged, still.

"Get him medical attention, stat!" Savior shouted.

Robin and Starfire flew in, and their assisstance was necessary. The operations would last into the night, but they would come out on top.

_**

* * *

House of Leon Pridion...**_

* * *

Kitty Evens walked up to the door and knocked. It was twelve in the afternoon. Kiyami answered, with Leon behind her.

"Can I help you, miss?" Kiyami asked.

"I need to see Pride." Kitty said.

"I'm sorry, he's not here." Leon replied.

"He told me the address. I double checked. He sent me to help out the Titans with something. He gave me this." Kitty said, holding up the red helmet.

Leon opened his mouth, then closed it.

"What is it, dad?" Kiyami asked, concerned.

"Come in, miss?" Leon asked, backing away from the door.

Kiyami mimicked her father, allowing Kitty to come inside.

"I'm Kitty. I helped out Pride. I just wanted to tell him thanks for helping me. I also wanted to tell him he owes me big time. Is he around?" Kitty asked.

"Sorry. He's asleep. I don't think he'll wake up until after tommorrow. Sorry. However, I could pay his debt." Leon said.

"Oh, well, thank you sir." Kitty said, caugh off guard.

"What'd you do?" Kiyami asked.

"I'd rather not say." Kitty said.

Kiyami stared.

"Not like that! It's just I used something I'd rather keep secret to help him." Kitty half-explained.

"I won't tell anyone." Kiyami said.

Leon handed her a check. Kitty's jaw dropped when she read the number.

"What is it you did?" Leon asked.

"He didn't want to help the Titans out of a tight spot with some Shadow Walkers, so he had me do it." Kitty explained.

"That sounds rather demented and mean-spirited." Leon said.

"It helped me out in some ways. Like this." Kitty replied, waving the check.

"I'll ask him about it when he gets up." Leon said.

"In the meantime, could you call your parents and see if you can't stay a while?" Kiyami asked.

Kitty decided not to correct her. Why parade the fact that she was an orphan and get sympathy? She picked up the phone and called up Soach's Orphanage for Little Angels.

"Hey, I'm at a friend's house. Yeah, I made some friends. Could I stay here a while?" Kitty asked.

She smiled as she heard the answer.

"I can stay til about three." Kitty said with a smile.

_**

* * *

Flagship...**__

* * *

The commandoes didn't work? Ah well. I have plans within plans. You'll fall soon enough, Pride._**

* * *

STORM**


	20. Adapt to Shadows: Three, Two, One

_**Three, Two, One...

* * *

**_

_**Well, the Storm Arc has ended. But, well, the overall War hasn't ended. Morrigan's Wings has guessed what Pride is doing before**_** I **_**did. Have you guessed it?**_

_**Does this chapter feel rushed to you guys? It might explain how I updated twice in the span of three days.**_

_**And speaking of Morrigan's Wings, I kept forgetting to mention something. Dirge belongs to her. Sorry about not mentioning that fact several chapters ago. Better late than never, right? (Better never late, though...) Bah.

* * *

**_

_**Home of Leon Pridion...

* * *

**_

It was Monday afternoon, but Leon was at home. For Kiyami, the summer had begun a week or two ago. They were both reading a book. It had been two days since Kitty Evens had entered their door, which means Nik was about to wake up, which probably explains why Leon was taking a vacation day and letting his co-director handle everything for the day.

The door opened and Nik exited, stretching and yawning.

"Damn I needed that!" Nik exclaimed.

"Good to see you awake again. You've been out for... oh, it's four o' clock now... about 64 hours." Leon said, looking at his watch.

"I haven't felt this great in years. Wait... 64 hours? I've got to get to the Titans now! I'll see you later, Leon." Nik said, half-panicked.

"Are you leaving so soon, dad?" Kiyami asked.

"Yeah, sweetie. I've got to help the Titans out. I'll try to visit you again, soon. Okay?" Nik asked.

"Okay."

With that, Nik sank into his shadow.

_**

* * *

Titan's Tower...**_

* * *

Robin looked up, calmly, as Nik appeared. Quickly, however, Nik converted. His features hardened, and his skin was tinted gray, signaling his conversion to Pride.

"Where were you the passed few days?" Robin asked.

"Sleeping." Pride said.

"No, seriously."

"Sleeping."

"For two days?"

"64 hours straight. I haven't slept in 17 years. Don't absolutely need it. However, considering upcoming events... I felt it'd be good if I were completely recharged."

Savior walked in and sat down beside Robin.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Savior demanded.

"Good afternoon to you too, Whiteman." Pride replied.

"You put a girl at risk because you were too fucking lazy to help us out. She could have _died_ you stupid bastard." Savior growled.

"I know enough about Shadow Walkers and had watched her long enough to know she could've handled the situation with surprise on her side. And from what I can tell, the Nightmare Realm fucked you over but good. It didn't touch her. So step off, Whiteman, or I'll let everyone know what happened there." Pride snapped.

"How the fuck would you know what happened?" Savior snapped back.

"That's my secret, Whiteman. You love pondering over every stupid little question you have, so why spoil your fun?" Pride said.

Taokii had intruded in his dreams and let him see what the Titans had been through, in an effort to torture Pride. He didn't expect Pride to be pleased that they had the crap knocked out of them.

"Knock it off, both of you. Pride, you said an army of Shadow Walkers would come. That was a group, not an army." Robin said.

"Really, now? Well, as it happens, Taokii has a fairly large force in space. They're really close too. I'd suggest you get the damn T-Ship ready. They'll be here in... a day.

"Excuse me?" Robin demanded.

"You stupid bastard! You should have warned us sooner! Casualties could've been avoided if you would have told us that two days ago! DAMN IT PRIDE!" Savior roared.

Savior and Robin dashed out of the room and ran to get to the T-Ship. There, they called everyone to the Ship. They had some space exploration to do.

The T-Ship used in Transformation had transformed back into the T-Sub. Now, a new T-Ship had been built, and this one had room for all team members. It was freaking massive, as it was designed to be able to break apart into small ships, if necessary.

But first, Robin had to inform the Justice League.

"Watchtower." J'onn greeted.

"J'onn, you've probably detected the massive force of ships coming your way. It's another Shadow Walker Invasion. This time, it's soldiers, rather than Dragons. Arm everything and fire as soon as you can. Get every Justice League member that you can into space." Robin reported.

"I will try." J'onn answered.

The monitor went blank immediately. Robin nodded, briefly, then rushed to the T-Ship.

_**

* * *

T-Ship Hangar...**_

* * *

The Titans were in their cockpits, ready to blast off, when Starfire popped a question.

"Robin, there is no room for Pride. How will he get to the invasion?" Starfire asked.

"He won't be going. He's need here to relay information. He can't pilot the T-Ship, and we need everyone we can get, so he'll have to stay." Robin answered.

"Blow it out your ass, bird boy. I'm going." Pride said.

"We have no room." Savior snapped.

"You think I need a tin can to get me there? I'll see you in space." Pride snarked.

Nik relinquished control, and Manik was released fully into the world. The great black Dragon took flight at incredible speed, exiting the atmosphere in minutes. The T-Ship wasn't far behind, but that was only because the startup sequence took a while. In space, the T-Ship outstripped Manik and met the Invasion head-on.

_**

* * *

Taokii's Flagship...**_

* * *

A Shadow Walker burst through the doors to give Taokii the news.

_Sir, two large enemies are coming to meet our forces! Orders?_

_Who are they?_

_One is a ship of some kind. The other is a Dragon, but not one of ours._

_The Titans and Draak Rei. Good to know. Send five companies after the Titans. Inform everyone else not to attack the Dragon, but to evade him. Anyone who can, tell him I'm waiting._

The Shadow Walker messenger nodded and ran out of the room.

_Of course, Draak Rei will probably destroy a large portion of my Invasion. Ah well. My fight is all that's important._

Taokii mused on this thought, alone in his throne room.

_**

* * *

Space...**_

* * *

With lightning speed, fifty ships burst from the main fleet and sped towards the T-Ship.

"Everyone, we're too big a target like this! Split up!" Robin ordered.

The T-Ship then split into nine smaller ships, which flew out to meet the cloud of ships. Manik only smiled as he flew through the main fleet occasionally blasting ships, none of which retaliated. He didn't need their message. He knew what to do and where to go.

It took him a while, but he found what he was looking for. The Flagship of Taokii. The bay door opened up and he flew in. Soon, he turned into Pride, and ran through the ship, killing any soldiers he saw.

_I'll get you, Taokii. Then we'll see whose stronger here! Do you hear me, you wretched being?_

_Oh, I hear you. And I'll be quite pleased to fight you. Come quickly. I tire of this waiting game._

**

* * *

ADAPT TO SHADOWS**


	21. Adapt to Shadows: FIGHT

_**FIGHT

* * *

**_

_**I envisioned the climactic scene of this chapter since before I wrote the first chapter. No, seriously. It explains why Pride goes UBER STU. But it had to happen...**_

_**Into the world, the Darkness has tapped. To the Shadows, we can only Adapt.

* * *

**_

_**Taokii's Flagship...**_

* * *

Pride sliced through legions after legions. He was a Darkagon, created specifically for the purpose of fighting another paragon of darkness. These pathetic imitations couldn't put a dent in him. He sometimes wondered why they tried. It didn't matter if they came at him with staves, guns, swords, or even fisticuffs. They were swimming in Darkness, and that energy couldn't touch Pride._**

* * *

Space...

* * *

**_

Terra was not built for space dogfights. Any blasts that hit her ship rattled her severely. The last shot that hit her ship bruised in her several places. Cyborg had her ship's chair double-padded, but it didn't help as much as she liked.

She swerved passed one ship and let a laser blast tear into the cockpit of a different one. She played several games with Beastboy, which had helped her reflexes. Then there's just the fact that women don't overthink their shots like men do. They just point and fire. More effective with swift, but large, targets.

Terra barrel rolled and closed her eyes to reduce the twirling effect and help her keep her lunch down. She fired off several shots where she saw the fleet, hoping to take some out. She had.

Beastboy was having the time of his life. He had taken the simulator on the Mini T-Ships and actually programmed it for a similar event to what was happening. He was constantly zipping from side to side and doing loopty-loops to avoid shots. Lasers zipped from his gun barrels at any target he saw. Fortunately, there was a vast difference in color schemes between the yellow Mini T-Ships and the dark gray Shadow Ships.

"Hey, Terra, hangin' in there!?" he shouted over the headset.

_"I've used two doggie bags and my body is turning purple and blue."_

"Yikes. Sorry to hear that."

He decided to get Terra a lot of chocolates to accompany the ice packs he'd get her. Of course, that thought was pushed away as soon as a shot hit the side of his ship.

"Damn it!"

_"Relax, BB. These ships can take a nuke."_

Cyborg's message was only somewhat comforting. Beastboy had been trying to take down 100 ships without getting shot once. He had gotten to 83.

Several ships went inactive as Beastboy fired more aggressively in his anger of his perfect record being smirched.

_**

* * *

Throne Room...**_

* * *

The large doors were blown to hell, smashed to bits, as Pride burst through to find his quarry. He was covered in blood.

"Ah, the triumphant search has come to an end." Taokii said, offhandedly.

"Yeah. I've gotten the end of this wretched maze. I killed a lot of your soldiers to do it, but I did it." Pride said.

Taokii stood up and walked down off his throne to equal ground with Pride. They then assumed battle stances.

"Three." Taokii started.

"Two." Pride said.

"ONE!" they roared.

No Darkness was visible, however, as the two charged each other. This was an honorable battle. Humanoid against humanoid. Just raw skill. But how long that battle will last is up in the air.

_**

* * *

Space...**_

* * *

Cyborg was proud of his work. It had taken him months of focused work to do it, but he had created technology so advanced, George Lucas would be calling him to see if he could bring the Death Star to reality any day now. Or at least some X-Wings.

Cyborg, of course, had a personal Mini T-Ship. It was designed for him to actually respond to his thoughts. A cord was connecting his arms to the board in front of him. It read his electronic signals to discern the brain waves and react accordingly, all the while giving him feedback on the environment.

He went into a straight-up climb, to allow to pursuers to crash into each other and implode. Darkness colliding at several hundred miles per hour had some strange effects.

Cyborg then went into a nose-dive and blasted several ships in his path. He smiled, almost insanely, with the pride he felt on creating such masterpieces.

Scalpel was mostly unfamiliar with the machine. Robin had made the Titans go through basic training procedures in the simulator. All he had gleaned was how to move and how to shoot. There was little red button on top of the joystick he used to move...

Scalpel came to the conclusion that Cyborg played too many video games. He was glad because of it, though, because the joystick design was simple in comparison to those massive boards filled with multi-colored buttons and flashing lights and charts he had seen on those wretched things humans used to fly and fight in. He shuddered at the thought of having to operate such ridiculous machinery.

He was glad they were in space. In space, there was no noise. Which means he couldn't hear the sounds of guns firing, ships exploding, people screaming. Those were the sounds of wars he'd rather leave behind.

A duck and swerve, he had dodged two shots and fired off five. One blew through the ship that fired at him, rendering it inactive. Three flew by and hit different ships in the main fleet. One eventually dissipated in the far reaches of space.

Gauntlet was on the same level of Beastboy. This was the most fun he'd had in... the last time he'd played a video game, which had been a few minutes before takeoff.

Barrel rolls were real. Swerves were real. Lasers were real. Implosions or explosions were real.

His ship rattled and he jerked about as the screen shot up a message detailing the damage.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, the enemy ships were real too.

He squinted his eyes and looked around to see the shooter. He spotted what might have been the offender and took off.

"THIS IS MORE FUN THAN ANY VIDEO GAME _EVER_!"

_"Don't scream into your intercom!" _Savior snapped.

There was the odd thing that Gauntlet was activating his headset to talk to Savior. Savior noticed that immediately afterwards and growled lowly about poisoning drinks.

_**

* * *

Throne Room...**_

* * *

Pride slammed his fist into Taokii's gut, then followed it up with a kick to the shins. Taokii grunted, but took a swing at Pride's head. Pride ducked back, did a back flip and landed on all fours. He shot out his right leg in a wide arc that slammed Taokii's legs out from under him.

Taokii fell to the floor, then pulled his knees up to his chest and kicked out in a rapid motion to slam his feet into the standing Pride's chest. Taokii kicked off, hit the ground hands first, but pushed off the ground and landed on his feet.

Pride was sent to the floor and skidded several feet. His eyes turned solid black.

"I'm through with the warm-up." Pride growled.

He floated in the air and claws formed over his hands. Taokii smiled as black energy surrounded his hands, molding them into claws as well.

_**

* * *

Space...**_

* * *

"Titans! We need to get into that Flagship! Pride's already boarded it. It's probably the main ship! Athenian formation!" Robin ordered.

They had been given the basic gist of about five formations, and were told to memorize them. The T-Ships gotten into a small group, then put distance between themselves, and shot forward, zipping about each other, but never blocking each other from shooting constantly.

In this, rather disorganized, formation, they managed to get through the fleet and board the ship.

_**

* * *

Throne Room...**_

* * *

Pride tossed off his shirt and let his wings unfurl. Taokii smirked and charged at his equal opposite. They met, claw to claw. Pride pushed away Taokii, then sliced with both claws at his foe. Taokii dodged the claws, then punched Pride across the face.

Pride growled ferally and formed a whip of black energy, which cracked out across Taokii's face, then snapped out again and wrapped around his arm. Pride reached back and pulled Taokii to him. His claws sunk into Taokii's chest. Ben's soldier spat in his face, then pulled out his claws and elbowed him in the solar plexus.

Mal's soldier moaned in pain, then held up his hands to his chest. Black energy covered it, and the wounds healed. He smirked and formed a spear of dark energy, which he threw at Pride. Pride ducked under it, then threw himself forward in a slide-like maneuver, but he never touched the ground. His wings flapped hard and he shot for Taokii. Taokii crouched down, then jumped hard and defied gravity by staying the air.

Pride flew up after him and they met in a midair dogfight. Several punches and kicks were exchanged before they pulled out the weapons they had the most fun with.

Swords of obsidian energy formed in their hands. They grasped their weapons tightly and charged in flight towards each other.

They sliced at each other at the exact moment from different angles, causing their swords to clash. However, instead of simply breaking away and trying again, they held each other there, pushing harder and harder.

That's when the Titans burst in. Worst timing ever.

They Darkagons noticed them immediately. Both were angered by the intrusion.

"You know the rules, Manik. One on one, or no fight at all. Did you go soft on me? Pathetic." Taokii spat.

"I don't want them here any more than you do." Pride snapped.

"But still they stand there. They're allied with you the most, which means they'll most likely attack me. One on one or not at all." Taokii growled.

Taokii summoned up shadow energy and used it to push Pride back, then he formed a portal behind himself and zipped inside it. It closed immediately, leaving Pride with no way to follow.

Pride floated to the ground, seemingly calm.

"Pride! We need to get to the main control room and shut down this fleet." Robin ordered.

"You interrupted my fight... with Taokii." Pride stated, simply.

"There's no time for that. This fleet will reach Earth in a few hours." Robin replied.

(Right about here, imagine Out of Control by Hoobastank playing.)

"I've done everything you've told me to. I've followed your rules. And funnily enough, I haven't accomplished what I needed, and I'm _fucking blind._" Pride snapped.

The anger in his voice was steadily rising. The Titans, minus Robin, Savior, and Cyborg, assumed battle positions.

"We all have our orders. And your orders right now are to help us deactivate the fleet." Robin said, calmly.

Savior held up the remote to the shock orb.

"What do you want from me? Absolute loyalty? _FUCK YOU!" _Pride shouted.

For weeks, he had slipped more and more darkness into the Shock Orb. Small quantities over a long period of time allowed him to consume it in Darkness. It had a sensor, sure, but it reset every few hours due to lack of adequate technology to ensure the sensors couldn't be messed up by an external environment. The Shock Orb was surrounded by shadow energy, and that shadow energy imploded upon it, then warped it right behind the Titans.

It went boom.

The Titans were sent flying forward, towards Pride. Taokii was his enemy, but after having fought him since forever, their fights had been nothing more than light spars, practically fun. But he still wanted to spar as often as he could. And the Titans had interrupted that spar.

He was pissed.

Robin was the first to receive his wrath. A mass of shadow energy slammed into him and pinned him to the wall. Pride warped in front of him and slugged him in several pressure points, then warped again as Gauntlet swung in to attack. His feet hit the Boy Wonder's torso.

Pride warped behind Gauntlet and snarled.

"You're a fluke boy, but you still have honor." he whispered.

He grabbed Gauntlet by the head and slammed him as hard as he could into the wall. Two down.

Starfire threw several Starbolts at him, but Pride disappeared and reappeared behind Savior.

"I've had enough of your shit, Whiteman." he snarled.

He kicked him in the spinal cord. Hard. Savior went flying forwards, but the Shimmer lashed out and pushed him up. He got himself in a right position and let two Shimmer strands fly. Two strands of black energy that looked like the Shimmer shot out of Pride's hands as well. It pierced the Shimmer down the center before Savior could prepare himself for the pain waves.

"Anything you can do, I can do better."

Pride was in front of him, and kicked him in the face. Raven snatched up a pole and swung it at him. A shadow enveloped a different pole which snapped out and smashed into Raven. Four down.

"Don't you start up with me, too, whore."

Cyborg and Starfire coordinated their attacks on Pride. He shook his head as four beams and a barrage of blasts came for him. A shield was erected around him. The energy broke through, but hit nothing but floor. Cyborg and Starfire found their heads smashed together. Starfire crumpled, then Cyborg found several strands of darkness poking through his chest. The damage was sufficient to cause him to black out. Six.

"I know every pressure point on you assholes."

Beastboy transformed into a leopard and shot for him. Pride ducked and Beastboy slammed into Scalpel. He quickly transformed into a cat, darted off Scalpel, then transformed again to try and attack. Pride sent a wall of Darkness onto his back, driving him into the floor. Several more bashings had Beastboy out cold. He then flew down to Scalpel and drove a large sword through his chest.

This sword pierced the same area that Savior had pierced way back when during _Flashing lights and sounds._ The result was much pain as the new wound opened up the old one. Pride then formed his claws once more and opened up several old wounds while forming new ones. Then he slammed both fists into his face.

Robin. Beastboy. Raven. Cyborg. Starfire. Savior. Gauntlet. Scalpel. Who else?

Pride turned around to see Terra by Beastboy. He walked up to her and grabbed her by her neck. He then lifted her up in the air.

"Get your friends up when you can. With Taokii gone the Invasion's slowed down. The control room shouldn't be difficult to find. You morons were too busy trying to find the source of the noise, and you passed it. I already killed everyone in there." Pride snarled.

"You gonna' kill me too? Gonna' prove you're as much slime as Taokii?" Terra spat.

She had no access to earth and she was threatening an Omega Class umbramancer. How smart.

Pride slammed her into the wall and growled.

"Taokii has more honor than any of you humans! You intruded upon a fight that was never your own. That fight has raged for trillions of years and you stupid bastards ran in to stop it. _IT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN._" Pride roared.

Terra whimpered lightly. The draconic features had expressed themselves, but the worst was his eyes, or the lack thereof.

"When you reach the main control room, smash everything. The fleet will enter emergency mode, and every ship will warp back to the planet it's from. You will have five minutes before the flagship follows suit. Do you understand?" Pride growled.

Terra nodded, and Pride let her go. She slid to the floor, gasping. Pride turned around and formed a portal back to Earth. Terra watched him leave, confused. Why was he helping them?

An hour or so later, the fleet crash landed on its home planet, and the Titans were home. The fruitless search for Pride started up again a few days later. It was obvious he wasn't going to be found unless he wanted to be, though. Something much bigger than any war was coming. Pride could sense it. And he was getting a lot of sleep before it came.

For Taokii had found the artifact of great power once more. Castle Black was about to be resurrected. The storm had passed. But the gates of hell were about to be opened.

**

* * *

ADAPT TO SHADOWS**


	22. DTD: Discovering The Damned

_**Discovering the Damned**_

_**(AKA Oracles Are Not All Good)**_

* * *

__

_**The Final Arc. It almost makes want to cry.**_

* * *

_**Jump City...**_

* * *

A man walked through the crowds, looking incredibly pleased with himself. Eventually, he stepped into a coffee shop and sat down at a table with two others. Nik Gatrite and Leon Pridion were surprised at this display, but Nik reacted first.

"Right now, I don't want to deal with you. Go the hell away." Nik growled.

"Who is this?" Leon asked.

"Taokii." Nik answered.

"Talio right now. I put away Rakii." Talio said.

"I don't care. Go away." Nik snapped.

"I have it, Nik. The key to your defeat." Talio said with a smirk.

"What would that be? The Nightmare Orb was shattered. Lin-Fo told me already. He wasn't happy." Nik replied.

"Please. I can't believe that my objective was ever so low as that wretched device. No. I have something far more powerful."

"No. You're lying. I never sensed it."

"Oh no. I found it. It was in the core of the Earth, but I found it."

"What is he talking about."

Both spoke at the same time: "The Dark Oracle."

"You'll be lying in a pool of your own blood at my feet very soon, Nik."

Nik breathed in deeply several times. He then turned to Leon.

"Leon. Get Kiyami. Pack up what you absolutely need and move as far away from here as possible."

"Oh that won't save them."

"It will save them from our battle. I shouldn't have to worry about the afterwards. I won't let you destroy all these lives. Never."

"It's been fun, Nik. I'll see you at the Black Castle. Tonight." Talio said, grinning madly.

With that, Talio disappeared into his shadow, much to the surprise of most of the customers. One of whom immediately walked over to the table.

"I thought all the Shadow Walkers had gone." Kitty said.

"He's the last one, and he's the only one that ever mattered. Don't concern yourself with anything other getting out of Jump City by tonight. Give the Orphanage this." Nik ordered.

He wrote a quick note on a napkin.

"Mother should know it's actually me. Dave told her I was alive before he was killed." Nik explained.

"Alright." Kitty nodded.

"Go!" Nik shouted.

Kitty nodded again, then turned out of the coffee shop and ran back to the orphanage.

"Alright, Leon, you know what to do. Get out of Jump City. The fight should be over by tomorrow. Go." Nik ordered.

Nik disappeared and Leon left the coffee shop immediately. He had to report to his assistant that tomorrow was a shutdown day, get the essentials, then he and Kiyami would leave Jump City, if only for the night.

* * *

_**Titan's Tower...**_

* * *

Scalpel sat beside Robin, giving the latest report.

"Well, Savior saw Pride, but Pride snatched him up in a shadow prison and chewed him out. So, the hunt doesn't go well, I fear." Scalpel reported.

"That's because I'll be found when I _want_ to be. And right now, I need to be found." Pride snarked.

In a flash, Scalpel had Pride on his back. Robin held a bo-staff on him.

"If I wanted to kill you, I would have come to kill you in your sleep, you morons. Bah. I've got an important message for you. Taokii is going to let Castle Black come back into existence tonight. It'll rise from the earth here. I'd suggest you evacuate the citizens and yourselves."

"Why should we believe you?" Robin demanded.

"When have I lied to you?" Pride snapped.

"I had to use the Lasso on you earlier. Oh, and I had to shock the truth out of you several times." Robin replied.

"I was covering up information. Things you didn't need to hear. Evacuate the citizens or risk a casualty rate rivaling the Final Night. Do you want that?" Pride challenged.

Scalpel looked up at Robin for orders. Robin gave him a hard stare, so Scalpel glared at Pride, then cut into him with his claws, while still pinning him down. Starfire floated down into the living room to see what was going on.

"What are you doing, friend Scalpel?" Starfire asked, aghast.

The blood was pooling around Pride as they had a glaring contest. Scalpel was usually more of a pacifist than this, but Pride had identified himself as an enemy when he attacked the Titans. And he was NOT going to let him hurt his friends.

"Starfire, we're trying to see if Pride is telling the truth. He claims that Taokii is going to bring some castle to life. Ah. Wait. Starfire, get Raven." Robin ordered.

A few seconds later, Raven walked down the stairs to see what Robin needed.

"Raven, I'm going to have to ask you to violate your usual code. Read his mind and see if he's lying. He claims that Taokii is going to raise Castle Black."

Raven nodded and walked over to Pride, noting the blood. She put her hands over his head. Obsidian energy covered her hands as she chanted, trying to get into his mind.

"Bastards." Pride muttered.

Raven found no resistance as she entered his mind. Brief flashes hit her.

_I found it. The Dark Oracle._

Several images of a large, black castle. Inside and out.

She probed on the surface to see if there was any chance he was lying.

_Karen, no! _

A gunshot.

Pain.

Raven was then shoved out forcefully and Pride bared his teeth, growling ferally.

"You were supposed to scan, witch. Not probe." Pride snapped.

"It was an accident." Raven glared.

"You probed, witch. Forget what you saw."

In a surprise move, she grabbed his glove and pulled it off. She had to see for herself. The memory was true, which means the Dark Oracle was most likely true as well. Truth and lies are rarely both on the surface of the mind.

On his palm was a circular scar, where a bullet had passed through his right hand around 17 years ago. A desperate, stupid, _futile_ attempt to save his best friend, Karen Pridion, was forever marked on his palm.

Pride attempted a lunge, but Scalpel's weight held him down. Raven stood up and turned around to walk out.

"You had NO RIGHT!" Pride roared at the disappearing form of Raven.

"You have no right to talk. You killed 34 people. Be silent. You'll be chained again soon." Robin replied.

Pride narrowed his eyes and sank into his shadow, bringing Scalpel with him. A few seconds later, Scalpel appeared again.

"What happened?" Robin demanded.

"He appeared over the middle of an ocean. I let go for a moment of panic, before I could realize he wasn't actually going to hit the water. He opened a portal beneath himself and me." Scalpel said, getting up.

Robin sighed. He couldn't blame the Blacktrinian. They were genetically against swimming, so it was expected that suddenly seeing a large mass of water, he would panic. It still sucked that their prisoner escaped. Sorry. Sucked doesn't even BEGIN to cover it.

Robin sat in his chair and turned on the computer, then activated the communications. The mayor's face appeared on the screen.

"Yes, Robin?" he asked.

"Order an emergency evacuation of the city. I've received validated reports of a major assault on Jump City. Tell everyone to get out immediately, as an order of the mayor and the Teen Titans." Robin said.

"What's going on?" the Mayor demanded.

"An attack. A big one. Between you and me, possibly like the Final Night. Order the evacuation." Robin stated.

The Mayor nearly fell over at that statement. Robin shut off the communications and stood up.

"Alright, I'll inform the rest of the group." Scalpel said.

"Thanks. I'll need to analyze the Pride tapes to see how we can combat Taokii." Robin said.

Scalpel nodded and walked up the stairs. Robin flipped on the archives and searched for the records on Pride. He need to know how to combat the Umbramancers.

* * *

_**That Night...**_

* * *

The Titans stood on top of the Tower, each staring off in a different direction.

"Is everyone clear on what to do?" Robin asked.

"As soon as any energy is spotted, tell everyone else. Cyborg and Raven will try to determine what the source is." Beastboy recited, half-bored.

"Sir, yes sir!" Gauntlet mock saluted.

A few moments later, Savior spotted a large crystal sprout from the ground.

"Guys, I think that's it."

Cyborg and Raven looked at it, and each gave it a quick scan, to confirm Savior's guess, just out of protocol. There were certain that it was Castle Black. The crystal began forming into larger, more definite shape. Castle Black was emerging, but the Titans were prepared.

"Titans, GO!"

* * *

**DTD**


	23. DTD: Destroy The Darkness

**_DESTROY THE DARKNESS_**

* * *

_**The last chapter of Shadows into Nights. It's been great. Really, it has. I'd like to thank the entire Legends Team, plus their affiliates, for having created this world I borrow. I'd also like to thank Morrigan's Wings for Dirge. I wrote this last chapter until I saw the text flicker blue.**_

_**I have images of Leo Knight, Bayonette, and Kiyami up on Deviant art. Pride'll go up too, eventually.**_

* * *

_**KEY**_

**Manik**

_Nik_

Karen

* * *

Pride walked down the familiar halls, the memories raging within his core. He didn't know how he'd be able to do it, he just knew he had to kill Taokii, no matter who had the advantage. 

He knew the Titans would be coming soon. They had a code of hero. And that code dictated that they must defeat any evil that dared to intrude on their city or any city nearby without protection. Jump City was being invaded. They would act.

So, Pride used Castle Black to his advantage. Shadows emerged from the walls and formed beings close to his heart. They were silhouettes, but they were still identifiable as Logan Vinyette, aka Bayonette, and Leon Pridion, aka Leo Knight. Another arose: Kiyami Pridion, who held similar powers to his own. Another attachment.

**We can't afford attachments to anyone, Nik.**

_We'll manage._

**Wretched humans...**

Pride smirked at his handiwork, then continued down the path. The Shadow Beings would be sustained by Castle Black. As long as the castle stood, they should stand too.

He hoped.

_**

* * *

Throne Room...

* * *

**_

Taokii stood in the center of the room, prepared to fight, when Pride entered the room.

"Are you alone, Pride?" Taokii asked.

"Yes."

"Then let's end this."

"Finally."

They formed swords and charged at each other. Pride leapt forward and spun, smashing into Taokii hard. Taokii took the blow gracefully and sliced at Pride, who hovered in midair and weaved around the blade. Taokii blasted Pride point blank, sending Ben's soldier reeling through the air. It took him a few seconds, but he managed to right himself in time for Taokii to drive his fist into Pride's chest.

Taokii kept driving his fist into Pride until he hit the wall. Then he scraped his face into the wall for a few seconds. He pulled Pride's head back and slammed it in. Pride didn't take to that kindly. He formed a spike of shadow energy, which emerged from his back and stabbed into Taokii. He then turned sharply and slammed Taokii's side into the wall. Pride let the shadow energy disperse, then let a ball of the same energy fly from his hand into Taokii's face.

Taokii grabbed the wall in time to gain the proper leverage to stay where he was when the blast struck. It did more damage, but he managed to rebound and shoot a beam dead into Pride's chest. Pride was sent into the ground with a crash.

He sat up on bended knee, growled, then shot into the air for another clash. Taokii and he clasped hands and pushed harder and harder against one another. They circled each other, each trying to use Earth's gravity in their favor. Finally, Taokii met the ground back first. Pride lifted Taokii part-way up, then slammed him back down again. He stood up and stomped Taokii in the gut.

Taokii rolled out of the way of the second stomp (which formed a spider web of cracks) and stood up in a second. Pride threw a black energy ball which Taokii caught and threw back. Pride's eyes would've widened as the blast exploded in his face, unguarded. It sent him stumbling backwards, then to his knees. When he stood up and turned around, Taokii noted with pleasure that his face had been disfigured, if only temporarily. The bandanna was gone. Castle Black enhanced both their powers, and the scars on his face quickly healed. Damage down by Darkness could be healed by Darkness.

Taokii held up a hand, letting loose a beam of obsidian energy. Pride formed a shield which merely divided the beam in two, neither one hitting Pride. It was easier to divert energy than to block it.

The diverting shield shot forward and nearly hit Taokii. Unfortunately, he had been given enough time by his blast to fly to the side and let the shield shoot passed him. He turned in time to see Pride's fist collide with his face. Taokii rolled with the punch, as the expression _sort of_ goes. He was bent at the waist, then his shadow shot up like a pillar and knocked him into Pride, who was ready. He grabbed Taokii by the head, lifted him up using the momentum and slammed him down behind him.

Pride turned around as quickly as possible and kicked Taokii in the side, sending him rolling. Taokii rolled with the kick too, and managed to use the momentum to leap back up into the air. He caused several balls of shadow energy to form, all of which he threw at Pride. Circles of black energy emerged around Pride, causing the blasts to disappear upon impact. They then reappeared behind Taokii, still going.

"Well done."

The blasts slammed into him, carrying him to Pride's fist.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

The Titans ran through the halls, trying desperately to get to Taokii. They had to take him down... What? 

In the hall stood the three figures Pride created. One of them looked familiar to Gauntlet, but he couldn't place the face

"Shadows?" Savior asked.

Raven nodded.

"Friend or foe?" Beastboy wondered.

Terra walked forward. Leo Knight tossed a bolt of black energy which knocked her back into a wall.

"Foe." Terra coughed.

"Shit." Savior spat.

"We don't have time for this!" Robin shouted.

After Leo Knight zapped Terra, he resumed his normal position. None of them had moved. Savior lashed out the Shimmer at Bayonette, who pulled out a sai and sliced it in half. He then pulled out a ninja star and tossed it into Savior's kneecap. Savior was driven to his rear, holding his knee while dealing with pain from a sliced Shimmer.

Starfire threw several Starbolts at Kiyami, who formed a shield that reflected the blasts back at her. Gauntlet charged at Kiyami and sliced at her, but she blasted him back. He looked at her and did a double take. Now he knew where he saw that face.

"Kiyami. That looks just like Kiyami!" Gauntlet shouted.

Leo Knight shot a bolt at Beastboy, who tried to charge him down as a bull. He continued charging until Kiyami put up a shield in front of him. Beastboy hit the shield and stopped, painfully.

"Who?" Robin demanded.

"The girl I went on a date with a few weeks back. I actually _called_ her a few times. She never answered. It's Pride's daughter, guys!" Gauntlet answered.

Savior sent several sharp Shimmer shots (TONGUE TWISTER) in Leo Knight's direction. A fire-like black energy shot from Leo Knight's left hand. The Shimmer strands made it through the fire and pierced Leo Knight. A dagger sliced them. Savior was prepared for it this time, so the strands retracted, but he didn't feel the normal excruciating pain.

"So you mean these might've been created by Pride?" Robin asked.

"Definitely!" Gauntlet shouted, dodging several shots from Kiyami.

"But why?" Terra asked.

Terra was useless in the fight. She attempted to pull up Earth, but nothing had happened. So for now, she decided to stay back and watch. It was all she could do without getting the way.

"It's a matter of honor. Pride and Taokii fight each other, with only each other. One on one." Scalpel said.

He shot forward with his glaive, in an attempt to _KER-STAB_ Bayonette, but he diverted the glaive with his bo-staff, then hit Scalpel in the face with it, turned around quickly and did a thrust with both arms. His bo-staff had a specially made bayonet attached to it, and this is what pierced Scalpel's chest. Bayonette put a foot against Scalpel's chest, and kicked off while pulling his bo-staff out. Scalpel was sent reeling back in a matter of ten seconds of attacking the kid.

"You remember the last time we tried to interfere in their fight." Robin stated grimly.

Everyone groaned in agreement.

Robin pulled out an explosive disk and tossed it at Leo Knight. Kiyami sent out a black tendril which grabbed the disk and tossed back at Robin, who ducked. The explosive went off far behind them. Fortunately it was a contact explosive, rather than a timed or contact explosive. Robin stood up and tried again. This time, he tossed several explosives. Everyone of them was tossed back. Although, this time, it wasn't necessarily at him.

Raven, fortunately, was able to snatch them all. She threw them at Kiyami, who dodged them all. They came back and hit her before she could react properly. She hit her knees and fell to the floor. Gauntlet let out a victory whoop, as the Titans prepared to attack the remaining two shadows.

That's when the black energy snaked in from the ceiling and latched onto the shadow of Kiyami. Quickly, Kiyami stood up, fully recharged. She tossed a large black bolt of energy into Raven, who doubled over in pain.

"What?! Only bosses can do that!" Gauntlet shouted in protest.

He began digging through his infinite supply of pamphlets, then pulled one out. He opened it and reread it.

"Huh. Some sub-bosses can do it, too. Never mind." he shrugged.

Savior smacked the back of his head, then prepared to attack again.

"We'll just have to try again and again. They can't regenerate forever!" he shouted.

They all charged.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

Taokii's head flew back in recoil and his feet flew out with enough force to push Pride back a few feet, before he regained his footing. Taokii growled as he got off the hard floor he'd fallen on. Pride let a right jab fly, but Taokii caught it. Pride did a head butt, but neither benefited from the move. Pride tried an uppercut, but Taokii caught that too. Pride grinned. 

"What's so-"

"INNA NERTS!"

Pride's foot connected hard with Taokii's groin hard. He gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes in anguish. A tear fell from his eye and slid down his face.

"You. Bast. Ard." Taokii groaned through grinding teeth.

"What can I say? I hung around Gauntlet too long." Pride snickered.

With the loosened grip, Pride was able to push away Taokii and kick him in the chest. Taokii fell to his knees and growled. It started out low, then it started to grow... into the roar of the enraged. Taokii's head snapped up, with his eyes giving off and obsidian glow.

"Time for the real fight?" Pride asked.

Taokii's form bulged, his fingers melted together into two claws and a thumb. His head reformed into a shape resembling Alien, but if there was a line going down the top of its head and it had facial features. A large diamond-like shell emerged from his back. His feet reformed to somewhat resemble his arms.

"I'll take that as a yes." Pride said.

Pride's form grew and changed until he was the great black dragon, Manik, once more.

"Ah... It's good to be rid of the human form. Too limiting, I think." Manik growled.

A sword emerged from Taokii's right arm. Manik laughed at the blade and prepared for combat. Taokii charged at Manik, who let his tail do the sword fighting. Taokii made several attempts to slice the more vulnerable underside of his tail, but Manik always pulled his tail back quickly and made a swipe for Taokii.

Finally, he let his tail fly out and it pierced Taokii's chest. Taokii grabbed the tail and made a move to bring his sword down on it. Manik snapped the tail back, but brought Taokii back with him. He grabbed him with his shadow-enhanced claws and squeezed. Taokii growled and the shell on his back separated, forcing Manik to let go. The shell snapped out at a 180 degree angle, and a web of energy formed from it into wings.

Manik's wings snapped out, and they prepared to duel once more.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

Beastboy charged at Bayonette as an elephant, in an attempted to mow him down or get passed him. Raven enhanced Savior's Shimmer strands as they snapped out towards Leo Knight. Robin rode on Beastboy's back, an explosive in hand. Starfire tossed Starbolts at Kiyami, while Scalpel engaged Leo Knight in hand-to-hand. Cyborg joined Starfire in the energy assault on Kiyami, as Gauntlet leapt onto the ceiling, then leapt towards Bayonette, his namesake forming a javelin. 

The shadows flickered, then an explosion of shadow energy knocked everyone back into the ceiling, walls, or floor, whichever way their velocity went in reverse.

"What the fuck was that?" Savior shouted, trying to peel himself off the wall.

"Whatever it is, let's _not_ to do it again!" Gauntlet shouted from the ceiling.

"That was most unexpected." Starfire said, bringing down several pieces of the ceiling, which immediately went back in place.

"A failsafe. They can't handle a charge like that." Robin noted.

"That, and the author has a hard enough time writing one-on-one fights." Gauntlet muttered.

_**(TOO BUSY SOBBING OVER THE END TO RESPOND)**_

"Emo wuss." Gauntlet snickered.

"Maybe it'll short them out faster." Savior suggested.

"No. Let's just try killing them. The explosion has more repercussions. Terra needs medical attention, Scalpel." Robin said.

Scalpel immediately ran over to Terra and went to work.

Raven managed to get to her feet, then stumbled a bit. Savior grabbed her to ensure she didn't fall again.

"Could you try shorting them out with your soul self?" Savior asked.

Raven nodded, then got into a floating, meditative pose.

"Heal your major injuries first, then attack. Tell us when to let up." Robin ordered.

Raven nodded, still chanting.

Robin and the other available Titans turned towards the shadow beings. Robin held up his explosives the way a poker player holds cards. Cyborg activated his Sonic Cannon.

"Sonic boom? Oh yeah." they said at the same time, smiling.

Robin tossed two explosives at Kiyami and Leo Knight. Cyborg blasted them both, causing a large explosion. He threw a third one at Bayonette, which Cyborg blasted as well. Fortunately, the smoke dissipated quickly, which allowed them to view what their attacks did. They were healing quickly.

"Damn it!" Cyborg swore.

"Cyborg, Starfire, both of you fire on the disk on my signal." Robin ordered, holding up an electro-disk.

They nodded. He let it fly into the middle of the hall.

"NOW!"

Cyborg let both Sonic Cannons blast it, while Starfire used every resource available as well. Needless to say, the explosion was sufficient to knock all the Titans but Raven, Scalpel, and Terra back. She was the only smart enough to stay behind the shield she had erected, it seems. Scalpel was far enough way that his mass was sufficient enough to absorb the shock of what actually hit him, and he clutched onto Terra to keep his patient from being blown into a wall.

The smoke dissipated quickly, once more. The shadow beings reformed and stood up, continuing to block the hall, as if nothing had happened. Scalpel growled angrily as he fixed the bandages around Terra's torso. He stood up and charged at the shadow beings. Leo Knight let a burst of electric-like energy fire at the Blacktrinian. He pulled out his glaive and stabbed it into the ground. The electricity was attracted the metal, so Scalpel was saved from it.

He slid into Leo Knight's kneecaps, then grabbed his shins with his ripping claws and tore a large piece out. Leo Knight attempted a kick, but Scalpel managed to recover too fast. He punched Leo Knight square in the face as hard as he could. Leo Knight was sent flying into the wall, where he dispersed. Bayonette tossed a sai into Scalpel's leg, then slagoomed the back of his head with his bo-staff. Scalpel fell to his knees. Kiyami appeared in front of him, formed energy around, then tossed him into the walls a bit, before dropping him.

Leo Knight reformed in his original position. Scalpel climbed, groggily to his feet, until Robin put a hand on his shoulder.

"Stop. That's an order. You'll kill yourself otherwise, and we need more medics than Cyborg in the field." he said with a slight smirk.

Scalpel started to protest, but Robin interrupted him.

"That's a direct order from a superior officer. Lay down and rest for now. Fight when I order you to. Rest when I order you to. Rest." Robin ordered.

Scalpel obeyed the order against his will.

The Titans regrouped around Raven.

"Clear out. I'm ready." she said.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

Manik and Taokii sliced at each other in midair, but they also dodged. Continually, they flew at each other and missed narrowly. Finally, Taokii got in a slice across Manik's side. This allowed a slice into his gut. Manik grabbed his arm, holding him hostage. 

"Let's see ya' hop around now." he growled in his best Marv impression.

Black energy, most resembling fire and electricity, poured from Manik's maw directly into Taokii. The assault stopped quickly, and Taokii looked only slightly worse for the wear. With his other claw, he pierced Manik's chest.

"Nice blunt force, but poor entry technique. The Russian judge isn't pleased." Manik quipped.

He tore off Taokii's right hand, then shot a burst of shadow energy. Taokii clutched the bleeding stump in pain. Manik threw it to him, and he caught it with his remaining hand. A flash of black energy, and he was right-handed again.

"Thanks." Taokii grumbled, begrudgingly.

"Don't mention. To anyone. _Ever_." Manik growled.

There was no honor in fighting an opponent on an uneven playing field. Manik had honor.

Taokii held up both hands and fired a large beam at Manik, who held up a diverting shield again. It shot forward, and Taokii managed to avoid it. This time, however, he managed to get in an extra shot. Manik swept it to the side, for all his trouble.

Taokii charged forward and grabbed Manik by the neck before he could blink. He kept charging and squeezing Manik's neck. He was losing consciousness, and with it, the fight. His head smashed the wall, but he barely felt it.

Don't worry, I am here.

_Who are... _

All these years... I'm not surprised you forgot. Ah well. I can't blame you.

_Karen?_

Yeah. It's me, Nik. I'm here to help.

_What was that about attachment weakening me?_

**You're lucky, human.**

Manik managed to regain brain function in time to blast Taokii back. Then, an extraordinary thing happened. Crystals emerged from the walls, ceiling, and floor. They started out clear, but then they shone with an intense white brilliance.

_What's this?_

Just giving you energy doesn't constitute help. I decided to give a guiding light.

_Thanks, Karen._

Karen laughed lightly.

Get 'im good for me.

Manik flew into Taokii and bit down on his shoulder. He continued flying forward, until Taokii crashed into the floor. The crystal's energy surrounded them, forcing them to a form that didn't rely so much on the Darkness. The Light was far too intense.

Pride leapt back and the morphed back Taokii got to his feet.

"What is this wretched Light doing in _my_ CASTLE?!" Taokii screeched.

"Not Light. Merely a different form of Darkness." Pride said.

"Different form? Hardly! What form?" Taokii demanded, forming a sword.

"The Good kind." Pride said simply.

Taokii roared as he slashed angrily at Pride.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

The soul self flew into Bayonette at the same time the Light spread through the castle. It had some interesting effects. The other two shadow beings disappeared, but the one Raven attacked gained color and more definition. He fell to his knees. Logan Vinyette was genuinely in the Legendverse. 

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around.

Savior kicked him in the face, sending Logan reeling backwards, blood flying from his nose. Robin grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Stop! The silhouettes never bled before! This is something different." Robin ordered.

"What the hell is wrong with you people! Where the hell am I! Damn! First I get the crap kicked out of me by some Phantom kid due to some trick, now this? What the hell?!" Logan ranted.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded.

"Logan Vinyette. Although, right now, I'm Nosebleeder thanks to asshole right there." He said, pointing at Savior.

"Why are you here?" Robin asked.

"The hell if I know. I was eating with Leon when I found myself pulled here." Logan said, pulling out a cloth and wiping his nose.

"The Light and Raven's magic?" Starfire suggested.

"It's possible." Savior said.

"Raven's magic mixing with other things has had weird results before." Robin said.

That referred to _Hand in Hand_, in which Raven's magic mixing with the Gauntlet and Larry's magic created a super powered reality bender called Oblivion.

"Listen, did you say Leon? Do you know Nik? Pride?" Robin demanded.

"Yes. Yes. Wait, how do you know?" Logan said.

"Come with us." Robin ordered.

The Titans, minus Terra, ran on and pushed open the door to witness the fight going on.

_**

* * *

**_

* * *

As soon as the Titans got into the room, they found themselves blocked by a large field of energy. 

You musn't physically interfere.

"But I did before." Logan snapped.

You shouldn't have.

"Who the hell are you to be talking?" Logan shouted.

Karen.

Logan's eyes widened.

"Dad! Kill him! KILL TAOKII! YOU CAN DO IT DAD!" Logan roared.

Thanks.

Pride glanced over at Logan, but refused to do a double take. Weirder things had happened to him. Taokii let the blade go down low and swiped at Pride's knees. Pride ducked back and blasted Taokii in the fast. He leapt forward and brought Taokii to the ground, then punched him in the face. He held his head and turned it to Logan.

"You see that black boy over there? He would've had an adopted mother if it weren't for you. You insignificant, wormy _bastard._" Pride hissed.

"I had fun shooting her down." Taokii spat.

Pride picked up Taokii's head, then slammed it down. He got up, still holding Taokii by the head, then tossed him into the wall. Pride stooped down and snapped off a large piece of Light crystal, then pointed it at Taokii. Taokii formed a sword and charged at him. They clashed hard.

"I'll send you to hell for what you did!" Pride shouted.

He then kicked Taokii back and blasted him down. He leapt up into the air, then down on to him, the Light crystal in hand. Taokii grabbed it in a desperate attempt to not let it pierce his heart.

"Raw Light energy! Straight through your twisted heart! TAKE IT! TO STRAIGHT TO HELL YOU SICKENING PIECE OF SHIT!" Pride roared.

Taokii's hands were sliced through as the Light crystal hit its target dead on. Taokii gasped in pain as his soul and body faded away. Pride found himself surrounded by Darkness. It poured into him as he stood up. It was a hurricane of Darkness, which he would absorb. It was his job to rid this world of the evils of the Darkness.

"Dad... NO! NOT AGAIN!" Logan yelled.

Pride smiled at him. He pulled out the White Dagger.

"Karen, get Logan home." Pride ordered.

I will.

"Thank you. Logan, take care." Pride said.

Goodbye, Nik.

"Goodbye, all." Nik said, with a wave.

The Titans stared at him, unsure of what he was going to do. Nik raised up the White Dagger and brought it down on himself. It came out of his back, and Light spilled forth. Nik faded away, off to save the next world. The castle disappeared, to be replaced by the museum. The White Dagger lay on the floor, innocent as ever. Savior picked it up.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust... Shadows to shadows."

No... Shadows to Light.

Savior nodded lightly in response to the voice. Two major problems were taken care of. The world was already a little more bright.

**

* * *

**


End file.
